Curiosity explores Gale Crater and uncovers evidence that the ancient Martian environment was like today’s Earth | TechNews Technology News

NASA’s Curiosity rover has made a groundbreaking discovery on Mars, revealing Earth-like, potentially habitable conditions billions of years ago. The rover examined rocks from the ancient, dry lakebed of Gale Crater and found evidence of manganese, a chemical often found on the shores of shallow lakes on Earth.

Gale Crater, with a diameter of 154 kilometers, has a history of 3.5 to 3.8 billion years on Mars. The lakebed in the crater has now dried up, leaving only eroded remnants of sedimentary rock. Curiosity’s ChemCam instrument detected high concentrations of manganese oxide in the sediments, indicating that the original rocks were formed near rivers, deltas, or ancient lake shores.

The presence of manganese suggests that Mars could have once supported life, as the element is critical to human health and is often used by microorganisms as an energy source on Earth. The discovery raises questions about how oxygen was produced in Mars’ ancient atmosphere and hints at the possibility of significant past events on the red planet.

The findings were published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, shedding new light on Mars’ potential for sustaining life billions of years ago. As NASA continues to explore the mysteries of the universe, the discovery of Earth-like conditions on Mars brings us one step closer to understanding the possibilities of life beyond our own planet.

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