NASA’s Perseverance Rover Finds Traces of Rubies on Mars

A laser built to analyze Martian rocks accidentally uncovered the chemical signature of rubies. When NASA’s Perseverance rover shot a light-colored rock with its SuperCam laser, the instrument detected sharp luminescence peaks at 692.7 and 694.1 nanometers. That light emission comes from delayed atomic transitions in chromium atoms locked inside a corundum mineral structure.

Corundum containing chromium forms the gemstone known as ruby. Finding this mineral on Mars presents a geological puzzle because corundum typically forms through metamorphism and pegmatitic processes. Mars lacks the plate tectonics that usually drive those conditions on Earth. SuperCam principal investigator Roger C. Wiens explains that massive asteroid impacts can create the extreme local heating needed to form metamorphic minerals like these.

Our read suggests that leaning on unexpected side benefits from scientific instruments will redefine how rovers map ancient impacts. The rover team now runs time-resolved luminescence observations frequently on light-toned rocks near the rim of Jezero crater. While the rover has not uncovered collectible gemstones, these microscopic crystals give researchers a new way to map the ancient heat of impact events.