Ancient Mars was Hostile
Alicia Chang
Associated Press
USA Today
________
San Francisco (US):
Nearly two years after NASA's twin rovers parachuted to Mars, a Jekyll-and-Hyde picture is emerging about the planet's past and whether it could have supported life.
Both Spirit and Opportunity uncovered geologic evidence of a wet past, a sign that ancient Mars may have been hospitable to life. But new findings reveal the Red Planet was also once such a hostile place that the environment may have prevented life from developing."For much of its history, it was a very forbidding place," said mission principal investigator Steven Squyres of Cornell University.
Scientists stressed that the rovers were investigating a snapshot in geologic time and that it's possible that other regions of Mars that have yet to be explored could have had a different environment.
The new analyses were presented Monday at an American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.Since landing on opposite sides of Mars in January 2004, the six-wheel rovers found conclusive evidence that the planet once had water based on examination of water-altered bedrock at their respective sites.
Dec 06, 2005
Alicia Chang
Associated Press
USA Today
________
San Francisco (US):
Nearly two years after NASA's twin rovers parachuted to Mars, a Jekyll-and-Hyde picture is emerging about the planet's past and whether it could have supported life.
Both Spirit and Opportunity uncovered geologic evidence of a wet past, a sign that ancient Mars may have been hospitable to life. But new findings reveal the Red Planet was also once such a hostile place that the environment may have prevented life from developing."For much of its history, it was a very forbidding place," said mission principal investigator Steven Squyres of Cornell University.
Scientists stressed that the rovers were investigating a snapshot in geologic time and that it's possible that other regions of Mars that have yet to be explored could have had a different environment.
The new analyses were presented Monday at an American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.Since landing on opposite sides of Mars in January 2004, the six-wheel rovers found conclusive evidence that the planet once had water based on examination of water-altered bedrock at their respective sites.
Dec 06, 2005