NASA’s Curiosity rover, currently exploring Gale Crater on Mars, is providing new details about how the ancient Martian climate went from potentially suitable for life — with evidence for widespread liquid water on the surface — to a surface that is inhospitable to terrestrial life as we know it.
Although the surface of Mars is frigid and hostile to life today, NASA’s robotic explorers at Mars are searching for clues as to whether it could have supported life in the distant past. Researchers used instruments on board Curiosity to measure the isotopic composition of carbon-rich minerals (carbonates) found in Gale Crater and discovered new insights into how the Red Planet’s ancient climate transformed.
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