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Thursday, September 27, 2012

NASA rover Curiosity finds evidence of ancient water stream on Mars


(CBS News) NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, slowly nearing its initial science destination where multiple types of terrain come together, has found outcrops of conglomerate rocks made up of eroded gravels that scientists believe were transported across the floor of Gale Crater by a "vigorous" flow of ankle-to-hip-deep water in the distant past.   
It's the first observation of its kind on Mars, showing that an alluvial fan photographed from orbit was, as suspected, formed due to the action of flowing water that entered the crater through a 100-foot-deep, 2,000-foot-wide channel dubbed Peace Vallis that cuts through the crater rim and then fans out across a gentle 1-degree slope toward Curiosity's landing site.



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