NASA did not say it found life on Mars. But it’s very excited about this rock.

Scientists working with NASA’s Perseverance rover state emphatically that they are not claiming to have discovered life on Mars.

But many would regard a rock that the rover just finished studying as "Most Likely to Contain Fossilized Microbial Martians.” The rover has drilled and stashed a piece of the rock, which scientists hope can be brought back to Earth in the coming years for closer analysis and more definitive answers.

"What we are saying is that we have a potential biosignature on Mars,” said Kathryn Stack Morgan, the mission’s deputy project scientist. She describes a biosignature as a structure, composition or texture in a rock that could have a biological origin.