NASA uncovers conditions on Mars once suitable to life

Mar 13, 2013 2:41 PM PHT

Rappler.com

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NASA scientists revealed that a rock sample collected by the Curiosity rover contained elements that are crucial to life, opening the possibility that the planet could have supported living microbes

This set of images compares rocks seen by NASA's Opportunity rover and Curiosity rover at two different parts of Mars. On the left is " Wopmay" rock, in Endurance Crater, Meridiani Planum, as studied by the Opportunity rover. On the right are the rocks of the "Sheepbed" unit in Yellowknife Bay, in Gale Crater, as seen by Curiosity. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/MSSS
NASA scientists says the Curiosity rover has uncovered proof of an environment that could have supported life on Mars. An analysis of a Mars rock sample by the rover showed minerals, including hydrogen, carbon and oxygen, that are the building blocks of life. The six-wheeled robot, with 10 scientific instruments on board, is the most sophisticated ever sent to another planet. The rock sample was drilled from a sedimentary bedrock sample and found to contain clay minerals, sulfate minerals and other chemicals. Based on the analysis of those chemicals, researchers were able to determine that the water that helped form the rocks were of a relatively neutral pH. John Grotzinger, Curiosity project scientist from the California Institute of Technology says the environment they found was “habitable, benign and supportive of life.”

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