NASA rover finds new evidence life may have existed on Mars

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 Programme. "From what we know now, the answer is yes." Clues to this habitable environment come from data returned by the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) and Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instruments. "We have characterised a very ancient, but strangely new 'gray Mars' where conditions once were favourable for life," said John Grotzinger, Mars Science Laboratory project scientist at the California Institute of Technology. "Curiosity is on a mission of discovery and exploration, and as a team we feel there are many more exciting discoveries ahead of us in the months and years to come." Curiosity first touched down on Mars in August last year after an 8½ month, 354 million-mile journey. The 10ft long, 9ft wide vehicle is equipped to carry a set of 10 different instruments, including cameras, lasers, a 7ft tall jackhammer, analytical instruments and laser firing equipment.