Life On Mars? Mars Rover Opportunity Finds Some of the Necessary Conditions Once Existed

Tübingen Geoscientist Dr. Christian Schröder is part of a team which today revealed exciting new information garnered from information sent back from Mars. Late last year, the NASA Mars Rover Opportunity found what appeared to be veins of gypsum when examining the edge of the crater dubbed “Endeavour.” Gypsum is formed in water at a temperature lower than 60°C. Its presence on Mars indicates that conditions conducive to life have existed there at least temporarily. The rock of the crater edge is similar to suevite, a rock consisting partly of melted material which is typically found at meteor impact sites. The results of the study, led by Steve Squyres at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York have just been published in Science.