Mars Astrobiology: Recent Status and Progress - Planetary Exploration and Science: Recent Results and Advances - page 180

Research published in September 2009 demonstrated that some new craters on
Mars show exposed, pure water ice. After a time, the ice disappears, evaporating
into the atmosphere. The ice is only a few feet deep. The ice was confirmed with
the compact imaging spectrometer (CRISM) on board the Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter.

8.3.9.11 Mars Science Laboratory and Curiosity Rover

The Mars Science Laboratory mission is a NASA project that launched, on
November 26, 2011, the Curiosity rover, a nuclear-powered robotic vehicle, bearing
instruments designed to assess past and present habitability conditions on Mars. The
Curiosity rover landed on Mars on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater, near Aeolis Mons
(aka Mount Sharp), on August 6, 2012 (Various 2014 )(Fig. 8.17 ).
Very early in its ongoing mission, NASA's Curiosity rover discovered unam-
biguous fluvial sediments on Mars. The properties of the pebbles in these outcrops
suggested former vigorous flow on a streambed, with flow between ankle and waist

Fig. 8.17 View of Yellowknife Bay formation, with drilling sites. This mosaic of image from
Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) shows geological members of the Yellowknife Bay formation
and the sites where Curiosity drilled into the lowest-lying member, called Sheepbed, at targets
“John Klein” and “Cumberland.” The scene has the Sheepbed mudstone in the foreground and rises
up through Gillespie Lake member to the Point Lake outcrop. These rocks record superimposed
ancient lake and stream deposits that offered past environmental conditions favorable for microbial
life. Rocks here were exposed about 70 Ma ago by removal of overlying layers due to erosion by
the wind. The 50-cm scale bars at different locations in the image are about 20 in. long. The
lower scale bar is about 8 m (26 ft) away from where Curiosity was positioned when the view
was recorded. The upper scale bar is about 30 m (98 ft) from the rover's location. The scene is
a portion of a 111-image mosaic acquired during the 137th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's
work on Mars. The foothills of Mount Sharp are visible in the distance, upper left, southwest of
camera position ( http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/mars-rover-curiosity-pia17595.html - NASA/JPL-
Caltech/MSSS, December 24, 2012)