Mars appears to have had a more massive atmosphere billions of years ago than it does today, with an active hydrosphere capable of storing water in long-lived lakes. The MSL team has concluded that this water helped to fill Gale Crater, the MSL rover Curiosity’s landing site, with sediment deposited as layers that formed the foundation for the mountain found in the middle of the crater today.
Curiosity has been exploring Gale Crater, which is estimated to be between 3.8 billion and 3.6 billion years old, since August 2012. In mid-Sept 2014, the rover reached the foothills of Aeolis Mons, a 3 mile high layered mountain aka “Mount Sharp”. Curiosity has been exploring the base since then...
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