Clay often forms in the presence of water – a key ingredient for the evolution of life as it is known on Earth – and Curiosity’s latest findings add more evidence that a significant amount of water once pooled and flowed in Gale Crater on Mars.
Scientists detected a massive reservoir of frozen water sandwiched by layers of sand beneath the northern polar ice cap on Mars. This reservoir contains so much ice that, if melted and brought to the surface, it would submerge the entire planet.
There’s a massive, growing wall of evidence showing that Mars may have had the necessary conditions for life in the past. ESA’s High-Resolution Camera on the Mars Express Orbiter, there are clear signs of a system of river valleys.
