Water persisted in Mars’ Gale crater for longer than previously thought, study finds. Billions of years ago, Mars was home to abundant water, and its Gale crater contained a lake. Gradually, the climate changed, drying the red planet and creating the dusty desert world we know today

What is the Gale Crater on Mars?

Gale crater was formed by the impact of a large meteorite sometime between 3.5 and 3.8 billion years ago. The resultant crater is about 150 km (95 miles) across and is located just south of the Martian equator

Was Gale Crater a lake?

As it roamed the crater over the ensuing months and years, Curiosity spotted more and more signs of past liquid water, leading the rover team to conclude that Gale hosted a big lake about 3.7 billion years ago

How old is the Gale Crater?

3.6 billion to 4.1 billion years old

Estimates of age based on the density of impact craters on different areas of Mars put the Gale impact and surrounding highlands in the range 3.6 billion to 4.1 billion years old, a good match to the new age estimate from laboratory analysis

Does Gale Crater have sunlight?

On earth, the setting sun is known for its fiery tints. Meanwhile on Mars, the daily sunset takes on a more tranquil cast. The Curiosity Rover’s first color images of a Martian sunset show the sun dropping beneath the horizon of Gale Crater, where the rover has been exploring the otherwise red planet since 2012

Who discovered the Gale Crater?

The NASA Mars rover Curiosity, of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, landed in “Yellowknife” Quad 51 of Aeolis Palus in Gale at 05:32 UTC August 6, 2012. NASA named the landing location Bradbury Landing on August 22, 2012

How big is the Gale Crater?

96 miles

Home to the Curiosity Rover since August of 2012, Gale crater is 154km in diameter (96 miles

Gale Crater a safe landing?

“Gale is characteristic of a family of craters that were filled, buried and exhumed, and will provide insights into an important Martian process.” The actual landing ellipse is a smooth area with few craters, which is a great and safe place for landing

Now, an international team of researchers led by Imperial has found signs that water was abundant in Mars’ Gale crater – a 154km-diameter basin just south of the equator – long after the planet was thought to have become dry and inhospitable

The findings have implications for our understanding of Mars’ changing climate, as well as where we now look for signs of habitability

What’s clear is that behind each of these potential ways to deform this sandstone, water is the common link. (Dr Steven) of Earth Science and Engineering

Using data and images from NASA’s Curiosity rover, the researchers found clues: deformed layers within a desert sandstone that, they argue, could only have been formed by water.

While they agree that water was present, they are uncertain whether it existed as a pressurised liquid, ice, or brine. 

Lead author Dr Steven Banham, of Imperial College London’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said: “The sandstone revealed that water was probably abundant more recently, and for longer, than previously thought – but by which process did the water leave these clues? 

This water might have been pressurised liquid, forced into and deforming the sediment; frozen, with the repeat freezing and thawing process causing the deformation; or briny, and subject to large temperature swings. 

“What’s clear is that behind each of these potential ways to deform this sandstone, water is the common link.”

New research shows that the Gale Crater, the landing spot for NASA’s MSL Curiosity, held water for a longer time than scientists thought.

Life needs water, and it needs stability. So, if Gale Crater held water for a long time, it strengthens the idea that Mars could’ve supported life. We know that Gale Crater is an ancient paleolake, and this research suggests that the region could’ve been exposed to water for a longer duration than thought. But was it liquid water?

The research is titled “Ice? Salt? Pressure? Sediment deformation structures as evidence of late-stage shallow groundwater in Gale crater, Mars.” It’s published in the journal Geology, and the lead author is Steven Banham. Banham is from the Imperial College of London’s Department of Earth, Science, and Engineering

We know that water played a role in shaping the Martian surface. Multiple rovers and orbiters have given us ample evidence of that. Orbital images show clear examples of ancient deltas. We also have many images of sedimentary rock, with its tell-tale layered structure, laid down in the presence of water. But beyond the initial creation of Martian sandstone, the details of the rock can tell scientists about what happened long after it formed

Surprisingly, we found that these wind-deposited layers were contorted into strange shapes, which suggests the sand had been deformed shortly after being laid down. These structures point to the presence of water just below the surface.”Amelie Roberts, study co-author, Imperial College London’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering

What is special about Gale Crater on Mars?Scientists chose Gale Crater as the landing site for Curiosity because it has many signs that water was present over its history. Water is a key ingredient of life as we know it. Minerals called clays and sulfates are byproducts of water. They also may preserve signs of past life–if it existed, that is

What are some interesting facts about Gale Crater?

Gale crater was formed by the impact of a large meteorite sometime between 3.5 and 3.8 billion years ago. The resultant crater is about 150 km (95 miles) across and is located just south of the Martian equator

Why was Gale Crater chosen as landing site?

In the end, Gale crater was selected as the landing site because the thick section of rocks (Figure 2) was deemed likely to enable study of changing conditions on Mars over a time when the abundance and duration of water on the surface was decreasing over time

The data gathered by Curiosity, which is still going strong today, point to the existence of a handful of small lakes in Gale long ago rather than a single big one, Michalski said. Those little lakes were probably relatively transient, persisting for a maximum of a few tens of thousands of years at a time, he added

Mars: Spacecraft exploration

… Rover, called Curiosity, landed in Gale crater in 2012. Weighing about 900 kg (2,000 pounds) and measuring about 3 meters (10 feet) long, it was the heaviest and longest rover on Mars. Gale crater is at a low elevation, so if Mars ever had surface water, it would have pooled…

Curiosity is about 3 metres (10 feet) long and weighs about 900 kg (2,000 pounds), which makes it the longest and heaviest rover on Mars. (By contrast, the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are 1.6 metres [5.2 feet] long and weigh 174 kg [384 pounds].) Unlike previous rovers, Curiosity did not have its landing cushioned by air bags; rather, because of its large size, it was lowered to the surface by three tethersfrom the spacecraft’s body, called the sky crane

Curiosity does not rely on solar cells for its energy needs but rather draws its electric power from a thermoelectric power generator, with the heat source being the radioactive decay of plutoniumand the heat sink being Mars’s atmosphere. This internal power supply will allow Curiosity to continue operating through the Martian winter. Curiosity’s mission is planned to last one Martian year (687 Earth days

Curiosity’s landing site, Gale crater, is at a low elevation; if Mars ever had surface water, it would have pooled there. Aeolis Mons (also called Mount Sharp), the crater’s central mountain, consists of many layers of sedimentary rock that were laid down over much of Mars’s geological history. In September 2012 Curiosity took pictures of water-transported gravel, meaning that at one time Gale crater was likely the floor of an ancient stream

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