NASA's Curiosity rover discovers wave-rippled rocks on Mars

The Curiosity rover of NASA discovered wave-rippled rocks on planet Mars, which is evidence of the presence of an ancient lake, in a comparatively dry area, said the US space agency on Wednesday."This is the best evidence of water and waves that we've seen in the entire mission," stated Ashwin Vasavada, who works as Curiosity's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The rover, which has been exploring Mars since 2012, sent stunning pictures of rocks' surfaces covered with rippled patterns which seemed to have been created by the waves of a shallow lake almost billions of years ago.

ALSO READ | NASA's Webb gets 'photobombed' by a Colosseum-sized asteroid

The evidence that once parts of Mars were covered by lakes was previously discovered by Curiosity in the salty minerals that it left behind when the area dried up.

However, the scientists at NASA were surprised to discover such stark evidence of the presence of water in the Gale Crater, which is now being explored by the rover.

"We've climbed through many lake deposits during our mission but have never seen wave ripples this clearly. This was especially surprising because the area we're in probably formed at a time when Mars was becoming more dry," said Vasavada, in a statement.

The foothills of a three-mile (five-kilometre) tall mountain, which is called Mount Sharp, are being explored by the Curiosity.

NASA stated that debris was also spotted by the rover in the valley, which the wet landslides on Mount Sharp had washed down.

"This landslide debris is probably the most recent evidence of water that we'll ever see. It will allow us to study layers higher up on Mount Sharp that we can't reach," Vasavada said.

WATCH | NASA's Dart mission: The world's first planetary defence

NASA stated that a sort of "Martian timeline" has been provided by Mount Sharp to scientists with the presence of the oldest layers at the bottom and the youngest at the top.

This allows them to "study how Mars evolved from a planet that was more Earth-like in its ancient past, with a warmer climate and plentiful water, to the freezing desert it is today," it stated.

(With inputs from agencies)

You cannow write for wionews.comand be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with ushere.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE