Curiosity Rover Reveals Ancient Freshwater Lake on Mars May Have Supported Life

There may have once been an ancient lake on Mars. Not only that, but this lake may have once been able to support life. Data from NASA's Mars Curiosity rover mission has revealed the new features and has opened up the possibility that Martians may have once existed.

In order to learn more about Mars and its geological features the researchers are now pouring over the data that Curiosity has collected on the Red Planet. More specifically, they analyzed a set of sedimentary rock outcrops at a site named Yellowknife Bay in the Gale Crater, near the Martian equator. More specifically, the researchers analyzed the rocks by drilling into them using the MSL six-wheeled science laboratory. This laboratory is remotely operated by the MSL team from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These mudstones have revealed that, in fact, Gale Crater sustained at least one lake about 3.6 billion years ago.

So what was this lake like? It's likely that it was calm and had fresh water. In addition, it contained key biological elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur. In fact, this lake would have provided the perfect conditions for simple microbial life, such as chemolithoautotrophs. That said, the researchers are quick to note that because life might have been possible, it doesn't mean that it existed.

"It is important to note that we have not found signs of ancient life on Mars," said Sanjeev Gupta, one of the researchers, in a news release. "What we have found is that Gale Crater was able to sustain a lake on its surface at least once in its ancient past that may have been favorable for microbial life, billions of years ago. This is a huge positive step for the exploration of Mars."

That said, the new findings are the strongest evidence yet that Mars could have been habitable enough for life. However, more studies will have to be conducted before researchers can definitively say that there was life.

That's why the researchers aren't done investigating the Red Planet. The next phase of the mission will be to explore more rocky outcrops on the surface of Gale Crater. These outcrops could hold the key whether life did exist on Mars.

The findings are published in the journal Science.