The potential “biosignature” isn’t direct evidence of life itself, but rather a leftover sign that textural features on the rock may have biological origins.

A rock collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover may hold the strongest evidence of life beyond Earth ever found, officials said Wednesday.

In July 2024, NASA’s Perseverance rover extracted a rock core from the edge of Neretva Vallis, a river valley cut into the Martian surface by water rushing into the Jezero Crater billions of years ago. This mysterious rock caught the attention of scientists on Earth, as its features may reveal clues about possible ancient life on the Red Planet.

NASA confirms that asteroid 2025 QD8 will fly past Earth on 3 September at speeds of around 28,600 miles per hour, and could come with 136,000 miles.

House appropriators offered support, but no specific funding, for several NASA missions slated for cancellation in the administration’s 2026 budget.

The House committee met to discuss the commerce, justice, and science budget bill, which allocates funding to federal agencies like NASA. The bill secures more than $24.8 billion for NASA, about the same amount the agency received in 2024 and 2025—much higher than the administration’s previously proposed $18.8 billion for 2026.