It’s now been nearly seven years since NASA’s Curiosity rover scampered across the arid Martian moors. In May 2016, the large, self-propelled robot crossed the Naukluft Plateau, one of the most rugged terrains ever faced, a ride depicted – obviously at an accelerated pace – in this animation, created by Irish visual artist Seán Doran based on photos taken by Curiosity itself and terrain models made thanks to NASA’s MRO Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and ESA’s Mars Express probe.
Having satellites in support is important for missions on the surface, both as radio links and to monitor the all-too-crowded Martian limelight. But the main task of orbiters such as MRO, which has been in operation since 2006, is to map the Martian surface as accurately as possible, to show missions the best landing sites as well as the most promising sites to make observations, particularly in the search for traces of past life.
After spending most of the year exploring the Vera Rubin Ridge, following the indications received from above, the Curiosity rover has now moved to a new part of Mount Sharp, this hill today sandy and desert that three and a half billion years ago must have offered a very different landscape, full of lakes, rivers and aquifers.
The white line represents the path that NASA technicians want to do Curiosity in the coming months. The rover is now at the entrance of a valley called “Clay unit”, a block where satellites have identified clay minerals, interesting because they must have been produced in the presence of water.
In the field we will look for clues of this past water, for example by comparing the clay layers with those containing sulfates, found in the cliff above, indicating a process of desiccation or acidification.
This comparison will give us a better view of how the Martian climate has changed over time, while other clues will come from the analysis of the bed of an ancient rushing river, a natural channel where large boulders and other debris were found probably dragged by the river itself.
Geologically subsequent to the clay and sulfate deposits, it represents a totally different chapter in the history of water at Mount Sharp and may help us understand how long Mars has had a favorable environment for life, if life ever developed here.
Service by Stefano Parisini, Media Inaf
Video credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Esa/Seán Doran/U.Arizona/Jhuapl/Msss/Usgs AsC
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