As NASA’s Curiosity rover makes its way up a layered mountain on Mars, the little bot is finding even more signs that the Red Planet was once a habitable place — potentially capable of hosting microbial life billions of years ago.
The rover has been drilling as it climbs, and the samples it has uncovered reveal this region of the mountain to have a variety of chemicals, minerals & texture.
These diverse samples are helping scientists paint a picture of how ancient groundwater interacted with these rocks and changed over time.
“We’re finding different habitable environments as we go along.”
Since water is such a key ingredient for life here on Earth, its past presence on Mars may mean that life once thrived there, too.
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