Mars harboured long-lasting lakes and water streams about 3.8 to 3.3 billion years ago, boosting the odds that life may have once existed on the Red Planet, scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have found. Using data from the Curiosity rover, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity team has determined that, long ago, water helped deposit sediment into Gale Crater, where the rover landed more than three years ago.
The sediment deposited as layers that formed the foundation for Mount Sharp, the mountain found in the middle of the crater today. "Observations from the rover suggest that a series of long-lived streams and lakes existed at some point between about 3.8 to 3.3 billion years ago, delivering sediment that slowly built up the lower layers of Mount Sharp," said Ashwin Vasavada, Mars Science Laboratory project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion …show more content…
Last month, NASA scientists confirmed current water flows on Mars. "It's clear that the Mars of billions of years ago more closely resembled Earth than it does today. Our challenge is to figure out how this more clement Mars was even possible, and what happened to that wetter Mars," said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in …show more content…
Some hypotheses were "dry," suggesting that sediment accumulated from wind-blown dust and sand. Others focused on the possibility that sediment layers were deposited in ancient lakes. The latest results indicate that these wetter scenarios were correct for the lower portions of Mount Sharp. Based on the new analysis, the filling of at least the bottom layers of the mountain occurred mostly by ancient rivers and lakes over a period of less than 500 million
The sediment deposited as layers that formed the foundation for Mount Sharp, the mountain found in the middle of the crater today. "Observations from the rover suggest that a series of long-lived streams and lakes existed at some point between about 3.8 to 3.3 billion years ago, delivering sediment that slowly built up the lower layers of Mount Sharp," said Ashwin Vasavada, Mars Science Laboratory project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion …show more content…
Last month, NASA scientists confirmed current water flows on Mars. "It's clear that the Mars of billions of years ago more closely resembled Earth than it does today. Our challenge is to figure out how this more clement Mars was even possible, and what happened to that wetter Mars," said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in …show more content…
Some hypotheses were "dry," suggesting that sediment accumulated from wind-blown dust and sand. Others focused on the possibility that sediment layers were deposited in ancient lakes. The latest results indicate that these wetter scenarios were correct for the lower portions of Mount Sharp. Based on the new analysis, the filling of at least the bottom layers of the mountain occurred mostly by ancient rivers and lakes over a period of less than 500 million