Ancient Martian Conditions Could Have Supported Life

March 27, 2013

Stonehenge is still a place of ceremony. Last year, Michael Johnson was photographed with the Olympic torch at the stone circle before the London Olympic Games.

From VOA Learning English, this is EXPLORATIONS, in Special English. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

And I’m Christopher Cruise. Today we report on recent scientific findings about the planet Mars. We tell about tests of Martian rock gathered by the American space agency’s rover vehicle “Curiosity.” We tell about plans to send another spacecraft and possibly human beings to the red planet. We also explain what scientists have learned from a Martian rock that was found in the Sahara Desert.

The American space agency recently reported that the planet Mars once could have supported micro-organisms, extremely small life forms. The announcement came two weeks ago, after the agency’s Curiosity rover examined a rock on Mars. It was the first sample of rock powder ever collected and tested on the red planet.

Last month, space agency engineers received pictures from the rover, formerly called the Mars Science Laboratory. The images showed Curiosity carrying rock particles.

Curiosity used a drill on its two-meter long robotic arms to cut into the rock and collect about ten grams of powder. Space agency officials called the drilling, the biggest success for the Curiosity team since the rover landed on Mars last August.