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Phoenix666 writes:

As NASA's Curiosity rover makes its way up the central peak of Gale Crater, it has been gathering evidence from ancient lake beds and long ago groundwater environments that are promising to life.

Scientists in charge of the mission gave an update of their findings on Tuesday at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco, saying the landing site at Gale Crater had exceeded their expectations. They said they have "hit a jackpot" of exposed mineral layers as the rover moves up Mount Sharp, offering a glimpse into the geologic history of the site and how global environmental conditions might have changed on Mars over the course of millions of years.

"We see all of the properties in place that we really like to associate with habitability," said geologist John Grotzinger of California Institute of Technology. "There's nothing extreme here. This is all good for habitability over time."

Gale Crater is the lowest point within thousands of kilometers in all directions and scientists believe water once pooled there into a lake and also seeped underground. They believe the groundwater may have persisted even after the surface water dried up, offering a prolonged period for life to persist. So far, there's been no evidence of life, microbial or otherwise, but if Mars did once support living organisms this would have been one of the most likely spots on the Red Planet.

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