News in Brief Planetary Science

Mars was habitable longer, more recently than thought

Warmer, wetter conditions lasted until 3.5 billion years ago

WETTER ONCE  Curiosity’s Mast Camera surveyed Mars’ Yellowknife Bay formation, a region that could have supported liquid water for millions of years. The foothills of Mount Sharp, Curiosity’s primary destination, are at upper left.

JPL-Caltech/NASA, MSSS

By Andrew Grant

- More than 2 years ago

The dried-up Martian lakebed where NASA’s Curiosity rover landed last year could have supported microbial life for millions of years, ending as recently as about 3.5