Mars Rovers Sharpen Questions About Livable Conditions

User rating: 4.8 / 5 after 32 vote(s)

This view from NASAs Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows bedrock within a stratigraphic layer informally named Lyell which is the lowermost of three layers the rover has examined at a bright band around the inside of Victoria Crater. Image credi ...
This view from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows bedrock within a stratigraphic layer informally named "Lyell," which is the lowermost of three layers the rover has examined at a bright band around the inside of Victoria Crater. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

Like salt used as a preservative, high concentrations of dissolved minerals in the wet, early-Mars environment known from discoveries by NASA's Opportunity rover may have thwarted any microbes from developing or surviving.


Full story »

All News summaries from Space & Earth science news
All News summaries for February 15, 2008