NASA’s Curiosity has discovered water in the fine-grained soil on the surface of Mars, bringing scientists closer to answering the question whether the red planet once harbored life. The results have been published in Science as one article in a five-paper special section on the Curiosity mission.
Curiosity landed in Gale Crater on the surface of Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, charged with answering the question: “Could Mars have once harbored life?” To do that, Curiosity is the first rover on Mars to carry equipment for gathering and processing samples of rock and soil.
“One of the most exciting results from this very first solid sample ingested by Curiosity is the high percentage of water in the soil,” said Laurie Leshin, lead author of one paper and dean of the School Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “About 2 percent of the soil on the surface of Mars is made up of water, which is a great resource, and interesting scientifically.” The sample also released significant carbon dioxide, oxygen and sulfur compounds when heated.
Scientists said, the new data greatly advances the understanding of surface processes and the action of water on Mars.
