Curiosity goes to the flow

It seems NASA chose the Curiosity rover’s destination wisely: The craft appears to have landed right in an ancient streambed. Tasked with searching for signs of life-friendly environments on Mars, the rover can now cross off “find evidence for water” from its life-friendly to-do list, NASA announced in a press conference September 27.

NASA sent Curiosity to Gale Crater because data from orbiting spacecraft suggested the site had a good chance of having once been wet. Still, the speed with which the discovery came seems to have surprised the team.

“It is exactly the reason we chose this landing site,” said project scientist John Grotzinger of Caltech.

The best evidence for ancient rushing water comes from the rocks Curiosity has paused to investigate while wheeling toward Mount Sharp, an enormous pile of sediment rising from the crater’s center. These rocks, called conglomerates, are made of pebbles cemented together by once-wet sediments.