Nasa's 'Oppy' rover could be rolling on Martian clays

[Craig]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20649462

 

 

Nasa's Opportunity rover appears to have reached another milestone in its amazing nine-year mission on Mars.

 

Scientists report the robot has been trundling over what they believe to be clay-bearing rocks on the edge of a wide bowl known as Endeavour Crater.

 

Clays are water-altered minerals, but very different to the ones seen by the rover so far on its travels.

 

Those previous minerals were in contact with acidic water; clays are formed in the presence of neutral water.

 

"What drives us to investigate the problem of water on Mars is the fact that water is a necessary condition for life; but there's water and there's water," said Prof Steve Squyres, Opportunity's principal investigator from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.