Is Earth unique in the solar system – the only place where life could have taken hold?
Or could such an environment have existed at some point on Mars – where water and key chemical building blocks could have come together in a way that could support the smallest, most basic forms of life? The Mars Science Laboratory Rover, NASA’s new robotic vehicle for exploring Mars – is heading to the Red Planet to find the answer. (music) So how does a robotic rover try to find answers? By copying what its human creators do. On Earth, geologists might check out a map, drive out to a remote location, and hike to a possibly hard-to-reach spot where they can see layers of ancient rocks – like in the walls of a dried-up river bed or the sides of a canyon. (John Grotzinger) MSL is an incredible rover because it has an amazing ability to move around, and we’re going to need that because we’re going to have to go into some tough-to-reach places. (music) It can travel at least twenty kilometers, probably further We’re going to be able to land in a safe place and go beyond that to where the
