The ancient Gale Crater on Mars, once filled with water, could have been habitable during Mars’s early history, with oxidant-rich and oxidant-poor layers that became saltier as the lake dried up, according to a new study (Science 2017, DOI: 10.1126/science.aah6849). The data, sent back to Earth from NASA’s Curiosity rover, not only add to growing evidence that ancient Martian environments could have supported life but also demonstrate the abilities of sophisticated robotic instruments to probe fine geological details of an extraterrestrial environment. Curiosity landed inside the 150-km-diameter, 3.8 billion-year-old Gale Crater in 2012, and quickly accomplished, through its study of rock chemistry, its original goals of investigating potential habitability on Mars. The rover’s mission has been extended indefinitely, and scientists are now trying to pinpoint the times during Martian history when microbial life may have had the chance to develop. To that end, a team led by Joel Hurowitz, a
Curiosity rover data unveils geochemical history of Gale Crater, including redox layering of its ancient waters
The Curiosity rover took this picture of itself while collecting samples from inside Gale Crater. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
Martian crater lake could have supported life
Chemical & Engineering News ; 95 , 23 ; 4
2017-06-05
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