NASA Rover Finds Conditions Once Suited for Ancient Life on Mars
Source: NASA Press release 13-073 Excerpt: An analysis of a rock sample collected by NASA's Curiosity rover shows ancient Mars could have supported living microbes. Scientists identified sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon -- some of the key chemical ingredients for life -- in the powder Curiosity drilled out of a sedimentary rock near an ancient stream bed in Gale Crater on the Red Planet last month. "A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment," said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "From what we know now, the answer is yes." http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2013/mar/HQ_13-073_Curiosity_Rock_Analysis.html