NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds New Clues to Mars’ Watery Past | JPL
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has discovered lots of evidence of ancient lakes on the Red Planet—and this recent panorama shows intriguing new clues.
Curiosity, which landed on Mars in 2012, is currently exploring a unique feature known as the “Marker Band” in the foothills of Mount Sharp. Rocks in this area show the clearest evidence yet for waves the mission has ever seen: rippled textures that formed billions of years ago, as waves on the surface of a shallow lake stirred up sediment on the lake bottom.
Farther up the mountain, Curiosity can see more evidence of ancient water: wet landslides caused boulders and other debris to slip down into a valley. Curiosity caught a glimpse of this debris from a distance, but the rover's team hopes to get a closer look later in 2023.
Celebrating 10 Years+ on Mars! (2012-2023)
Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
Rover Name: Curiosity
Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life.
Launch: Nov. 6, 2011
Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars
For more information on NASA's Curiosity rover, visit mars.nasa.gov/msl
For more on NASA’s Mars missions, visit mars.nasa.gov
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/University of Arizona
Duration: 3 minutes, 10 seconds
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