From Times OnlineMay 22, 2007

Mars rover finds evidence of water

Mark Henderson, Science Editor of The Times

A broken wheel on one of the Nasa rovers that has been roaming Mars for three and a half years has helped scientists to find strong new evidence that the Red Planet was once wetter and possibly capable of supporting life.

Analysis of a patch of soil that was churned up by the stuck wheel on the the Spirit rover has revealed it is composed of about 90 per cent pure silica — a mineral that would have required the presence of water to form.

The find has surprised and delighted researchers, who said it is among the most significant discoveries made by Spirit since it landed on Mars in January 2003.

It adds to growing evidence, amassed by the Nasa rovers and orbiting spacecraft such as Europe's Mars Express in recent years, that suggest Mars was once much warmer and wetter than it is today, and that it may have harboured life.

Steve Squyres of Cornell University in New York state, who leads the rover team, said: "You could hear people gasp in astonishment.

"This is a remarkable discovery. And the fact that we found something this new and different after nearly 1,200 days on Mars makes it even more remarkable. It makes you wonder what else is still out there."

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Man strives and plans and calculates to the sixth decimal; and finds something this significant because a single wheel broke. "For want of a horseshoe nail, the battle was won... " :D

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