Mars on Earth: Turkish lake may hold clues to ancient life on planet

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover is seen where it landed in Jezero Crater on Mars, in a base image taken by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter taken February 19, 2021. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout via REUTERS

LAKE SALDA, Turkey (Reuters) - As NASA's rover Perseverance explores the surface of Mars, scientists hunting for signs of ancient life on the distant planet are using data gathered on a mission much closer to home at a lake in southwest Turkey.

NASA says the minerals and rock deposits at Salda are the nearest match on earth to those around the Jezero Crater where the spacecraft landed and which is believed to have once been flooded with water.