NASA’s Curiosity rover has made an unexpected discovery on Mars. He found evidence of water in a place that was supposed to have always been dry, at least according to scientists.
Arrived more than 10 years ago on the surface of Mars, the Curiosity rover has already made countless discoveries that help scientists unlock the secrets of the red planet. Last year, Curiosity notably discovered a mineral flower that had formed when the planet was covered in water. We know from Curiosity that Mars was covered in water billions of years ago, but we’re still trying to find out how long the planet remained covered in water and when it dried up.
The Curiosity rover has once again confirmed the presence of water on the red planet. He did not directly find traces of water, but rather evidence of water on Mars. This discovery is all the more surprising since the place where the ancient presence of water was confirmed was supposed to be dry. Indeed, scientists have always thought that this place in question was dry.
This is the best evidence of water on Mars discovered to date, says NASA
The photo you can see above was captured by Curiosity in December 2022 in what is called the “Marker Band Valley”. This place is on the slopes of Mount Sharp, a Martian mountain located in the center of Gale Crater. The Curiosity rover therefore discovered rocks there with textures that resemble real ripples.
These waves therefore confirm that a lake stood here billions of years ago, which agitated the sediments and created ripples. Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said that “ this is the best evidence of water and waves we have seen in the whole mission “. Not only is this the best ripple find, but it’s also an unexpected find because scientists thought this place was dry. It should also be noted that these ripples in the sediments testify to the complexity of the history of water on Mars.
Finally, Curiosity is not the only one to have confirmed the ancient presence of water on Mars. We must not forget the Chinese rover Zhurong which recently discovered evidence of liquid water on the red planet.
Source : Digital Trends
