New samples collected and analyzed by NASA’s Curiosity rover are pushing researchers closer than ever to finding out if Mars was once truly capable of supporting life. Located about 4.5 degrees south of the Martian equator, Gale Crater formed following an asteroid or comet strike roughly 3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago. These materials would suggest that Mars once included enough carbon dioxide in its atmosphere to support not just ice, but liquid water. This past era on the planet now seems far more likely, thanks to Curiosity’s latest findings. Something happened to Mars that didn’t happen to Earth,” said Tutolo, before offering a word of caution:“Studying the collapse of Mars’ warm and wet early days also tells us that habitability is a very fragile thing.”