Mars Rover Finds More Evidence of Water

NASA’s Spirit rover uncovered more evidence that there was once water on Mars, although not in the quantities its twin Opportunity found traces of halfway around the planet last month, the space agency said Thursday. Spirit found clues that limited amounts of water altered a volcanic rock, coursing through tiny fissures that crisscross the boulder and cementing together the multiple layers that mask its surface.

“Evidence of water at Gusev Crater has been hard to come by,” said geologist Hap McSween, a science team member from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He said Spirit’s find “may be the best we can do at Gusev.”