--- title: "NASA: Rover May Have Found Remnants of Ancient Martian Oasis" description: "Gale Crater Mystery Over three billion years ago, Mars looked a whole lot different than it does now and ever-since we were able to land rovers on its surface, we’ve been trying to get peaks of what it once look like. The 100-mile Gale Crater in particular, the result of a massive impact event a […]" date: "2019-10-07" modified: "2019-10-07" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-mars-rover-ancient-oasis" categories: - "NASA" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "curiosity" - "mars" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # NASA: Rover May Have Found Remnants of Ancient Martian Oasis ![Based on rover findings, NASA scientists envision Mars' Gale Crater to once have resembled the Altiplanos, the high altitude regions of South America.]() *\Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\* ## Gale Crater Mystery Three billion years ago, Mars looked very different from how it does now. And ever since we've been able to land rovers on the planet's surface, we've been trying to get peeks of its distant past. The 100-mile Gale Crater, which is believed to be the result of a massive ancient impact, has scientists particularly fascinated. According to data collected by NASA's Curiosity rover, the crater was once dotted with small streams that created an oasis of shallow, salty pools of water. ![]() ## Briny Lakes At least, that's the theory sketched out in [a new paper]() by NASA scientists published in the journal *Nature Geoscience*. They envision the crater to once have resembled the Altiplanos, the high altitude regions of South America that are dotted with briny lakes and streams. "During drier periods, the Altiplano lakes become shallower, and some can dry out completely," lead author William Rapin said in [a statement](). "The fact that they're vegetation-free even makes them look a little like Mars." ## Bearing Clay Since April, the rover has been testing samples from a region called "[the clay-bearing unit]()," near Mount Sharp, a peak in the center of the Gale Crater. Samples suggest the region was once a salty lake bed that dried up billions of years ago. "We can't say whether we're seeing wind or river deposits yet in the clay-bearing unit, but we're comfortable saying is it's definitely not the same thing as what came before or what lies ahead," Curiosity team member Chris Fedo said. **READ MORE:** [NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds an Ancient Oasis on Mars]() \[Jet Propulsion Lab\] **More on Martian lakes:** *[New Research: Mars Used To Be Covered In Huge Rivers]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()