Scientists who next year will be searching for signs of ancient life on Mars using NASA's Curiosity rover (a.k.a. Mars Science Laboratory) are huddling today near the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, trying to decide where to land their rover. (sciencemag.org)
«Some parts of Boulby mine are similar to environments we see on Mars, and so we'd like to use Boulby to work out where the best places are to look for signs of ancient life on Mars,» says Charles Cockell, an astrobiologist from Edinburgh University, who heads up the Mars Analogues for Space Exploration project. (newscientist.com)
Paradoxically, the find actually boosts prospects for finding signs of ancient life in Martian rocks. (newscientist.com)