Mars wasn't always a barren world ruled by raging dust storms. On the contrary, several pieces of evidence suggest that the Red Planet was warm, had lakes of liquid water, and was possibly habitable for a short period in its history.
This dramatic transition of Mars is generally attributed to the loss of its magnetic field. A planet's magnetic field is a fundamental ingredient that decides its course of events. It's an entity that can cause the difference between life and death. So the loss of the magnetic field was a turning point in the history of Mars.
Studying the planet's past habitability has been one of the prime objectives of multiple missions to Mars, including the recently launched Perseverance rover. Perseverance has been exploring the Martian rocks since early 2021, and now, it has found strong signals of organic matter on Mars.
So, how did Perseverance make this significant discovery? What does it tell us about the history of Mars?
Finally, and most importantly, if life existed on Mars, what did it look like?