Veins, not Flowers, on Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover is preparing to drill for the first time, into what appears to be sedimentary rock criss-crossed by mineral-filled veins.

Back in September last year the Mars Science Laboratory carried by the rover found a rocky outcrop on the wall of Gale Crater that was full of a crusty mix of cemented pebbles. It matched signs of an alluvial-fan feature seen from orbit and was some of the very best evidence so far of significant historical water flow across the martian surface.

Now Curiosity has entered Yellowknife Bay, a terrain that exhibits all the signs of a different type of water presence. In fact this depression in the landscape seems to be entirely distinct from the earlier Gale Crater landing site about 500 meters away.