CURIOSITY ROVER SEARCHING FOR LIFE ON MARS By John Hamilton spacecraft XTREME A D Xtreme An Imprint of Abdo Publishing I abdopublishing com
SEARCHING FOR LIFE ON MARS Mars is a bone chillingly cold and dry planet It seems impossible that any creature could live there But in its distant past water flowed across its surface XTREME FACT Wild temperature swings regularly occur on Mars Typical daytime highs might reach 70 degrees Fahrenheit 21° C but then at night plunge to minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit 73° C The average Martian temperature is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit 62° C
About 3 5 billion years ago the air was thicker and warmer perhaps Earth like How can we know if life sprang up there Could humans live on Mars today To answer these questions NASA's Curiosity rover arrived in 2012 to hunt for clues in the Martian rocks A self portrait taken by the Curiosity rover on Mars at the Mojave site
