Rounded Mars Pebbles Are Evidence for Water

The analysis of the evidence collected from the Mars rover Curisosity has finally been released. Sent to explore what scientists thought may have been a dry Marsian streambed, the Curiosity landed at Gale Crater on Mars on August 8th. The primary tools on the car-sized rover are three high resolution camers: the MastCam,  the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), and the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) . These cameras are capable of identifying an interesting chemical, and determining its chemical composition by autonomously studying the results of a vaporized sample from the rover's infrared laser. Around early November last year the rover climed into a streambed about 1.4 miles from the landing site and began analyzing strangely rounded pebbles in the streambed. In the released study, scientists have determined that these rocks were shaped by flowing water. Based on the composition and shape of both the streambed and the pebbles, the analysis concluded that: "At a minimum, the stream was flowing at a speed equivalent to a walking pace -- a meter, or three feet, per second -- and it was ankle-deep to hip-deep." This is a huge breakthrough for the argument for water previously existing on Mars. With the rover Curiostity is due to arrive at a rock formation called "Cumberland" within a few weeks, where it will take more measurments and continue to provide evidence to answer the question, "Could life have existed on Mars?"

NOS Themes:

1. Role of Curiosity/Motivation: The name of the rover is Curiosity because a group of scientists at NASA were curious about streambeds on Mars

2. Role of Evidence: The rover collected hundreds of samples that were then painstakingly analyzed by large groups of geological, chemical, and biological scientists.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130530150547.htm