The findings were announced in an edition of the journal Science released Friday to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Mars Opportunity Rover and its twin, Spirit, landing on the Red Planet.
Finding evidence of possible life supporting conditions on Mars has been a great motivation to NASA over the years. The idea that Mars was once inhabitable has always been a big question mark, one they like to dangle for the public to ponder as well. The question is no doubt an interesting one, and researchers believe this bit of insight will bring them closer to answering this question.
"Our latest research has found not only the earliest episode of water activity documented yet by the Opportunity Rover, but that the geochemistry of the 4 billion year old rocks indicates extensive deposits of past water that’s among the freshest, most life-sustaining found so far anywhere on Mars."
