CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – Seven months after NASA’s
rover Curiosity landed on Mars to assess if the planet most like
Earth had the ingredients for life, scientists have their
answer: Yes. Analysis of powdered samples drilled out from
inside an ancient and once water-soaked rock at the rover’s Gale
Crater landing site show clays, sulfates and other minerals that
are all key to life, scientists told reporters at NASA
headquarters in Washington and on a conference call on Tuesday.
The water that once flowed through the area, known as
Yellowknife Bay, was likely drinkable, said Curiosity’s lead
scientist John Grotzinger, who is with the California Institute
of Technology. The analysis stopped short of a confirmation of
organics, which are key to most Earth-like life. But with 17
months left in the rover’s primary mission, scientists said they
expect to delve further into that question. Science operations
currently are suspended because of a computer glitch, which is
expected to be resolved this week. Wh