Free Astronomy Magazine March-April 2015

R emarkable view taken near Kimberley, revealing the delta of a rushing stream that flow- ed into the basin of Gale Crater. The entire route followed so far by Curiosity is certainly indica- tive of an envi- ronment favour- able to life. Below, another comparison be- point out these similarities. Further evi- dence must be provided to verify this hy- pothesis.” To determine whether those photogra- phed by Curiosity are really MISS is not going to be easy. In the case of terrestrial analogues, laboratory scientists can con- firm their biological nature by cutting thin sections of rock samples and look under the microscope for specific textures typical of certain microorganisms. Performing similar operations directly on Mars is technically possible (although ex- tremely difficult from the engineering point of view), but not with the rovers cur- rently present on the red planet. The ideal would be to take samples of po- tential MISS to bring back to Earth, but to date are not planned any space missions of that type and the doubt about the true nature of the Martians MISS will therefore remain for several years, unless Curiosity will find in its path other formations very similar to those of the Gillespie Lake Mem- ber, in which case it would be difficult to sustain a casual origin due to erosive pro- cesses. Currently the rover is located at the Pahrump Hills, at the foot of Mount Sharp, an area showing interesting rock formations that could already be a first test case for (or against) the Martians MISS. Regardless of the need for further