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Space
Space
Science
Chelsea Gohd

Could evidence of life on Mars be hiding in clay? Europe wants to send a rover to check

Artist's illustration of Europe's ExoMars rover, named Rosalind Franklin, on the surface of the Red Planet.

Is there life on Mars … in clay? Scientists think that the minerals in clay could be the key to finding signs of ancient life on the Red Planet.

The European Space Agency is still working toward launching its ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars to search for signs of life. And, according to a statement from the space agency, the rover is now aiming to land at Oxia Planum, a depression on the Martian surface where it's thought that water was once plentiful. There, scientists think that they might find major clues in the hunt for life in the basin's clay, according to a new paper.

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