"At a press conference Tuesday, scientists revealed NASA's Curiosity rover has uncovered signs that ancient Mars had the essential elements necessary for supporting life.
A rock sample analyzed by Curiosity in February contained sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorous and carbon, critical building blocks for a living organism. An ancient streambed, analyzed in September, also contained minerals likely to have formed in the presence of "relatively fresh water," according to a written statement from NASA."
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| This set of images compares rocks seen by NASA's Opportunity rover (left) and Curiosity rover (right) at two different parts of Mars. The rocks observed by Opportunity were determined to have been uninhabitable due to high acidity, but the rocks observed by Curiosity were likely submerged in a more neutral liquid environment, raising the possibility that they could have once hosted life. |
"A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment," added Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program in Washington. "From what we know now, the answer is yes."
This is INCREDIBLE! The implications of such a discovery are marvelous and truly astounding! As said in an earlier post, we could be looking into a crystal ball into the Earth's own past! Still,however, this begs the question of just how complex was Mar's life. We assume that Earth is the "privileged planet" and truly it is...but it's discoveries such as these that make us go waaaait a minute....Could Mars have, in fact, been just as hospitable relative to the life it supported as the Earth to its myriad inhabitants? What sort of catastrophic events led to its becoming the seemingly barren wasteland many of us grew up knowing it to be? Was there once a Martian "Garden of Eden" , teeming with exotic life completely unbeknownst to mankind ? Here's to the Curiosity Rover and its future endeavors!
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