Scientists have found a butte in a crater on Mars that seems to present strong evidence that Mars was much wetter early in its history than it is today. That means, of course, that the chances for life on early Mars are improved.
The butte is huge and layered-- much as similar formations in the American Southwest are layered. In images taken from orbit, scientists see the bottom of the formation is dominated by clays, which suggest a wet environment. The higher up the butte, its composition progressively changes to be more in line with a more arid world-- perfectly in line with the theory that early Mars had a significant amount of liquid water on the surface that was gradually lost.
Gale Crater, home of the formation, was already being considered by NASA as a possible landing site for a future rover mission. This discovery certainly won't hurt the area's chances to be explored.
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