A River Ran Through It: Why Do They Think There Was Once Water on Mars?

This week’s big news was the announcement of evidence for flowing water on Mars, based on images of what appear to be smooth river rock-type pebbles found by Curiosity. Of course that’s a big statement to make, and for good reason — identifying water, whether present or past, is one step closer to determining whether Mars was ever a suitable place for life to develop. Yet here we are, not even two months into the mission and Curiosity is already sending us solid clues that Mars was once a much wetter place than it is now.Released today by JPL, the video above provides a brief-but-informative overview of what Curiosity has discovered in Gale Crater and why it’s gotten everyone so excited. Check it out so you’ll have something to talk about over the weekend.Video: JPLNews. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech© Jason Major for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Curiosity, JPL, Mars, MSL, video, water Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh