NASA has put much effort into finding intriguing ways of keeping Curiosity in the news since it launched its Mars mission. Apart from checking in on Foursquare, Curiosity has embarked on more intriguing scientific frontiers, primary in the soil analysis field. Now, Curiosity has found possible evidence that a stream once “ran vigourously” in the region the rover is exploring.
Dubbing the rock outcrop Hottah, after the lake in the Northwest Territories, NASA believes that the gravels observed near the rocks are similar to those found on Earth. The size of the gravels suggest that the water would have moved at about three feet per second, with a depth that would cover a variable level of a human leg. While this isn’t the first time scientists have posited that water has flowed on Mars, it is the first time however that gravel transported by water has been found, suggesting more concrete evidence of a riverbed.
Two other rock outcrops, Link and Goulburn, were previously observed on Curiosity’s path towards the Glenelg region of Mars, where Curiosity hopes to discover more information on geological features and soils. Consistent throughout these outcrops are rounded stones, which could have been transported over large distances and softened over very long periods of time. Researchers believe it flowed billions of years ago, and tentatively opine that it would have been active for over a thousand years.
Theories of water on Mars began in the early 1970s, when the Mariner 9 spacecraft found took images of what appeared to be dried up river channels. The Viking orbiters then found eroded valleys that likely would have required massive amounts of water to carve out. The presence of magnesium sulfate in the soil samples found by Viking 2 highly suggested that water was in the area, since it contains chemically bound water. Moving forward a few decades, the Odyssey and Pheonix rovers found evidence that much of the ground is covered in ice.
In a nearby region between the Gale Crater and Mount Sharp, a fan of material has deposited from a series of channels that are presumed to have flowed long ago. The shapes of the gravel in these deposits range from angular to rounded, in multiple sizes, which is further evidence of water flow. The variation in sizes rules out wind as a factor in forming different rocks.
Water evidence, of course, could be proof of life supporting conditions on Mars. While we wouldn’t necessarily be able to be entirely self-sufficient on the frigid planet, this discovery could lead to more space research such as the age of the solar system and how Mars was able to support life. The two year mission of the Mars Science Laboratory, to investigate the Gale Crater for favourable microbial life conditions, appears to be off to a great start.
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