An instrument on NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity can check for any water that might be bound into shallow underground minerals along the rover’s path.
“If we conclude that there is something unusual in the subsurface at a particular spot, we could suggest more analysis of the spot using the capabilities of other instruments,” said this instrument’s principal investigator, Igor Mitrofanov of the Space Research Institute, Russia.
The Mars Science Laboratory mission will use 10 instruments on Curiosity to investigate whether the area selected for the mission has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for life and favorable for preserving evidence about life.
“The strength of Mars Science Laboratory is the combination of all the instruments together,” Mitrofanov added.