Evidence of Water On Mars Found by Opportunity Rover

There used to be water on Mars. The Mars Rover found convincing evidence that water once flowed on the red planet. The news comes just a week after the Mars Curiosity was launched to the red planet in search of alien life.

Space.com reports that the Opportunity rover, which landed on Mars 8-years ago, recently discovered gypsum along the rim of huge crater called Endeavour. Scientists believe tha the mineral was deposited by liquid water billions of years ago.

Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Opportunity’s principal investigator, said:

“This is the single most powerful piece of evidence for liquid water at Mars that has been discovered by the Opportunity rover.”

Opportunity, and another rover called Spirit, landed on Mars in January 2004. The mission was supposed to last a few months but both machines have exceeded expectations. The Spirit was declared dead this year but the Opportunity is still making important discoveries.

Squyres said:

“There was a fracture in the rock, water flowed through it, gypsum was precipitated from the water. End of story. There’s no ambiguity about this, and this is what makes it so cool.”

Space Today reports that many scientists believe that Mars was once full of rivers, lakes, and even oceans. Previous probes have photographed sections of Mars that looked like dry river beds, and gypsum was previously discovered by a Russian probe. But this is the first time that a probe was able to examine a gypsum deposit at close range.

Do you think the Mars Curiosity will find evidence of alien life when it lands on Mars?