Curiosity finds tantalising clues as it ascends Martian mountain

[Robert]

Curiosity has been on the surface of Mars for more than four years and has covered roughly 15km of the red planet. In that time, the rover has drilled into and analyzed countless rocks to learn more about the planet’s mineralogy. According to Curiosity, Mars was once a wet world with much of the chemistry required for life.

The rover has also climbed about 200 vertical meters from the bottom of Gale Crater, near Yellowknife Bay, onto the lower slopes of Mount Sharp and into the Murray Buttes feature. Amid these travels, Curiosity has revealed the changing composition of the clays and rocks. For example, scientists working with data collected by Curiosity announced on Tuesday they had recently found boron on Mars for the first time, an indicator of past habitability.

Additionally, Curiosity’s rich chemical analysis of Martian rocks is helping scientists understand the nature of the large lake that partially filled Gale Crater billions of years ago. They have found evidence of ancient streams and deltas that fed the lake. Based on sediments left behind, scientists have confirmed that the lake waters were not too acidic for life to have once existed.