Mars More Earth-Like Than Expected Say Scientists

During the nearly 14 months that it has spent on the red planet, Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, has scooped soil, drilled rocks, and analyzed samples by exposing them to laser beams, X-rays, and alpha particles using the most sophisticated suite of scientific instruments ever deployed on another planet. One result of this effort was evidence reported last March that ancient Mars could have supported microbial life. But Curiosity is far more than a one-trick rover, and in a paper published today in the journal Science, a team of MSL scientists reports its analysis of a surprisingly Earth-like martian rock that offers new insight into the history of Mars's interior and suggests parts of the red planet may be more like our own than we ever knew. Martian Rock "Jake Matijevic" Obtained By Curiosity's Mast Camera Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS The paper—whose lead author is Edward Stolper, Caltech's William E.



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