More evidence of ‘life’ on Mars

According to the scientists, the silica finding turns a spotlight on an important site that might contain preserved traces of ancient Martian life.

“On Earth, hydrothermal deposits teem with life and the associated silica deposits typically contain fossil remains of microbes. What we can say is that this was once a habitable environment where liquid water and the energy needed for life were present,” said the study’s co-author Prof Jack Farmer of Arizona State University.

In fact, the silica discovery unfolded in slow motion as Spirit emerged from hibernation after its second Martian winter. The rovers spent those months on edge of a football field-size feature dubbed Home Plate which lies in Columbia Hills, a range of low hills in Gusev Crater spanning 170 kms.

“We were going back to an area of exposed soil called the Tyrone site, which we did not have time to investigate before winter began,” the ScienceDaily quoted the study’s another co-author Steven Ruff as saying.