NASA's Perseverance rover has discovered a mineral on Mars that, on Earth, is associated with ruby formation, hinting at a history of violent meteorite impacts on the Red Planet. The mineral, called corundum, is an aluminum oxide that forms rubies when trace amounts of chromium are present.
The discovery was made in Jezero Crater, an ancient lakebed that Perseverance has been exploring since 2021. Scientists were surprised to find corundum, as it typically forms under high-pressure, high-temperature conditions, such as those created by meteorite impacts.
According to researchers, the presence of corundum suggests that the rocks in Jezero Crater may have been subjected to intense shock metamorphism, possibly from a large impact event. This finding could provide new insights into the geological history of Mars and the processes that shaped its surface.
The discovery was announced in a paper published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters in August 2026. The team used data from Perseverance's SuperCam instrument, which uses laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy to analyze the chemical composition of rocks.
While the find is scientifically significant, it does not imply that rubies exist on Mars, as the conditions for ruby formation are rare. However, it does highlight the dynamic and violent history of the planet, which was once more geologically active than it is today.
