https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-picks-coveted-landing-site-for-mars-2020-rover/ > "The landing site in Jezero Crater offers geologically rich terrain, with landforms reaching as far back as 3.6 billion years old, that could potentially answer important questions in planetary evolution and astrobiology," says NASA's Thomas Zurbuchen. > Mars 2020 project scientist Ken Farley says, "The Mars community has long coveted the scientific value of sites such as Jezero Crater." The crater sits just north of the planet's equator and once featured a river delta. This makes it a prime spot for preserving possible signs of ancient microbial life.