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September 27, 2012 | 6
NASA's Curiosity rover has located geologic signs of ancient water flows on Mars, mission scientists announced in a September 27 news conference. Several spacecraft and landers have turned up various lines of evidence for past Mars water, but Curiosity is the first robot to get an up-close look at the rocks of a former streambed, according to a NASA prepared statement.
The rock pictured in the above mosaic from Mastcam 100, the rover's telephoto camera, shows evidence for a sedimentary makeup. "This rock is made up of round gravels [not visible in this image] in a matrix that is very sand-rich," said co-investigator Rebecca Williams of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz. The gravel's round shape implies that it tumbled to its current location, but the pebbles are too large to be windblown. So the rock appears to have been deposited by flowing water sometime in Mars's past. "The consensus of the science team is that these are water-transported gravels in a vigorous stream," Williams added.
The rock outcrop, which has been named "Hottah" after Canada's Hottah Lake, has been disturbed since its formation, exposing the 10- to 15-centimeter-thick slab to view. "To us it just looked like someone came along the surface of Mars with a jackhammer and just lifted up the sidewalk," Curiosity project scientist John Grotzinger said. He added that the science team was still debating the possible cause for Hottah's exposure, but that the simplest explanation was the impact of a small meteorite that lifted the former gravel bed up out of the ground.
—John Matson
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6 Comments
Add CommentSo can we be sure it was water, not some other liquid? And if it was water, is that any big surprise? Might there be concentrated deposits of minerals? I guess I'd rather have it at the poles looking for ice.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI tend to agree Daniel, our money and time would be better spent actually looking for real water/ice at the poles instead of proof that some area used to have water. All the research being done now could wait until we establish a base there in the next 20 to 40 years. Currently we need to look for usable resources instead of geologic history.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey already know there is ice there.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this(High Five) rrocklin.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat about googling "mars ice spectroscopy" first techjunkie?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this'until we establish a base in the next 20 to 40 years'
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this....huh?
There is no infrastructure currently doin this. Is it in a secret magic building at NASA? Even a manned spacecraft would take 25 years to deveolop..none of which is currently off any drawing board or being funded...let alone 'a base.
People have this pollyanish concept of just going to Mars when the green light is given...that will be only the beginning of a 50 year process.