Old streambed on martian surface

(Phys.org)—NASA's Curiosity rover mission has found evidence a stream once ran vigorously across the area on Mars where the rover is driving. There is earlier evidence for the presence of water on Mars, but this evidence—images of rocks containing ancient streambed gravels—is the first of its kind.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-09-curiosity-rover-streambed-martian-surface.html#jCp

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has discovered what appears to be an ancient streambed, suggesting that water once flowed in large volumes — perhaps hip-deep in places — across the Martian surface. (space.com)

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Curiosity rover mission has found evidence a stream once ran vigorously across the area on Mars where the rover is driving. There is earlier evidence for the presence of water on Mars, but this evidence -- images of rocks containing ancient streambed gravels -- is the first of its kind.

Scientists are studying the images of stones cemented into a layer of conglomerate rock. The sizes and shapes of stones offer clues to the speed and distance of a long-ago stream's flow. (NASA)

First images from Mars Curiosity Rover

Curiosity Mars Rover has landed. Here is the first image from Mars Science Lab:

Credit: JPL/NASA

Curiosity's Surroundings

"This is one of the first images taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (morning of Aug. 6 EDT). It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens on the left "eye" [...]. The clear dust cover that protected the camera during landing has been sprung open. Part of the spring that released the dust cover can be seen at the bottom right, near the rover's wheel. On the top left, part of the rover's power supply is visible. Some dust appears on the lens even with the dust cover off. The cameras are looking directly into the sun, so the top of the image is saturated. Looking straight into the sun does not harm the cameras. The lines across the top are an artifact called "blooming" that occurs in the camera's detector because of the saturation.  As planned, the rover's early engineering images are lower resolution. Larger color images from other cameras are expected later in the week [...]." Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Text credit: NASA/JPL