Evidence of drinkable water found on Mars

London: NASA scientists have revealed that the Opportunity rover has
made new discoveries about earlywater on Mars which may have been
drinkable.
The unmanned solar-powered vehicle, described as "arthritic" as it
nears10 years since its launch, has just analysed what may be its
oldest rock ever, known as Esperance 6.
It contains evidence that potentially life-supporting water once
flowed in abundance, leaving clay minerals behind, Sky News reported.
Principal investigator Steve Squyres of Cornell University said that
this ispowerful evidence that water interacted with this rock and
changed its chemistry, changed its mineralogy in a dramatic way.
He described the research as "some of the most important" of the
decade-long mission because it showcases a very different chemistry
than most of the previous discoveries about water on Mars, which is
now quite dry.
Scientists believe that a lot of water once flowed through the rocks
through some sort of fracture, leaving an unusually high concentration
ofclay.
The analysis reveals traces of what may have been a drinkable type of
water that dates to the first billion years of Martian history.
ANI