NASA's Perseverance rover finds ruby like corundum inside Jezero pebbles

Technology Mar 31, 2026

NASA's Perseverance rover just made a cool find: tiny, ruby-like corundum gemstones found inside Martian pebbles.
These little gems were spotted along the rim of Jezero Crater and contain corundum, the same mineral found in Earth's rubies and sapphires.
The discovery was shared at a recent science conference in Texas.

Perseverance SuperCam detected 0.2mm corundum crystals

Using its SuperCam laser, Perseverance picked up these ruby-like crystals, each only about 0.2mm wide.
Scientists think they formed differently than gems on Earth, probably thanks to old meteorite impacts instead of tectonic shifts.
While they're too small to call actual rubies, finding them helps researchers piece together Mars's wild geological history, and hints there could be more hidden minerals waiting to be found.