The rover also discovered a surprisingly high number of nodules, veins, and other features related to water alteration of the bedrock. During that time, the rover observed signs that the bedrock was changed by groundwater, especially in the higher elevations along the roverвЂ™s path. The NASA Curiosity rover explored the ancient lakebed rocks within the Glen Torridon region from January 2019 to January 2021. It turns out this was a very active time in MarsвЂ™ history.вЂќ вЂњThis region probably represents the last stages of a wet Mars, and we want to understand the lake sediments in order to give us a baseline for what happened right before MarsвЂ™ climate changed. вЂњThe primary reason that the rover was sent to Mars was to investigate this region so we can understand the transition from an early, warm and wet Mars to a cold and dry one,вЂќ said Patrick Gasda, of Los Alamos National LaboratoryвЂ™s Space and Remote Sensing group and lead author on the study. The findings, published in a special issue of Journal of Geophysical Research Planets, describe some of the first results from the Glen Torridon region.

The first analysis of the Glen Torridon region in the Gale crater on Mars shows that bedrock in the area was changed by groundwater in the planetвЂ™s early history, which has important implications for understanding past habitability and the possibility of finding past life on Mars.

News rover 21 key