A French scientist believes Europe's next mission to Mars should target some of the oldest rocks on the planet if it wants to find evidence of past life...
A French scientist believes Europe's next mission to Mars should target some of the oldest rocks on the planet if it wants to find evidence of past life. Jean-Pierre Bibring has identified areas that were in contact with water just after the planet's formation. In one such region, known as Marwth Vallis, conditions could have been stable long enough for life to start. Prof Bibring is pushing for Europe's ExoMars rover, an 580m-euro robotic vehicle, to be sent there in 2011. He said: "Marwth Vallis is a good site, too, because the altitude is close to zero. "You have to have a site very low on Mars for the parachutes to work."
Persistent water
The scientist from the Institute of Space Astrophysics, Orsay, was speaking here at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
He made his remarks as Europe's space ministers gathered in Germany to approve the ExoMars rover. An official announcement signing off the project will be made on Tuesday.
