NASA's Opportunity Mars rover may have uncovered signs of organic life on the Red Planet, but lacks the tools to sate scientists' curiosity, reports The New York Times.
The organization's latest update places Opportunity at "Matijevic Hill," located "on the rim of Endeavour Crater." The rover, which arrived on the planet in 2004, is now collecting data from in-situ, otherwise known as "contact" investigations. When scientists got a look at the rocks surrounding Opportunity, they found hints at "conditions on ancient Mars that clearly show us a chemistry that would have been suitable for life," according to the mission's principal investigator Steven Squyres.
Opportunity's mission at Endeavor is to take a closer look at clays discovered using NASA's Orbiter. As the Times notes, clay indicates the presence of water, and the potential for organic life. Squyres explains, "The thing that's different here is that these clay minerals point towards a natural chemistry - water you can drink...This puzzled us at first. I was expecting something dramatic and instead what you see here kind of looks like average Mars."
The scientists adds, "What we have stumbled upon here at Matijevic Hill, drawn here by that clay signature, is what's turning out to be one of the most delightful geologic puzzles that we have ever found with this rover in Mars."
While the Opportunity does not have the tools to test for traces of organic life, the more recent Curiosity rover does. The two rovers are located far apart from another, however, and it is no easy task traversing the Martian landscape.
Stay tuned to Latinos Post as NASA's space drama unfolds.
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