A small piece of Western Australia is on its way to Mars.

A chunk of the Pilbara is on board a rover, which will be searching for signs of previous life on the red planet.

The environment is considered similar to the conditions on Earth, billions of years ago.

Geoscientist at the University of Sydney, Professor Patrice Rey, chiseled out a small piece of the Australian outback five years ago.

“That rock was collected close to Marble Bar … in Jasper Hill,” he told 6PR’s Gareth Parker.

“The piece of rock is going to be used as a calibration target for one of the equipment that is on board.”

The NASA Perseverance rover is scheduled to land at the Jezero crater on Mars on February 19 at 7.55am AEDT.

“The mission will provide us with data, hopefully for the next five to ten years.”

Click play to hear the full interview. 

(Photo: iStock by Getty Images.)