After four years of discoveries and explorations on Mars, Nasa ’s Perseverance Rover has found some unusual rocks on the planet’s surface, hinting at potential past life there. The mudstones were found in a dried-up riverbed in the Jezero Crater, marked with so-called ‘leopard spots’ and ‘poppy seeds’, names given to the unique dots.

Minerals in the rock might have been produced by microbes in chemical reactions, but researchers say they’ll need to examine the sample more closely to know for sure

Prize: NASA could offer a prize—say $3 billion to the first company and $1 billion to a second company—for delivering something like 1 kg of Mars rocks and soil back to Earth. NASA has used prizes very sparingly in the past, but this option could appeal to the Trump administration as it would require very little funding up front.