IN SPACE - FEBRUARY 3: In this handout image provided by NASA, a self-portrait of the Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on February 3, 2013 on the planet Mars. Curiosity landed on the planet on August 5, 2012. (Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - NASA scientists say tests on a Mars rock show the planet could have supported primitive life.
The analysis was done by the rover Curiosity, which drilled into the rock, crushed it and tested a tiny sample. The rover was the first spacecraft sent to Mars that could collect a sample from deep inside a rock.
At a briefing at NASA's Washington headquarters on Tuesday, NASA scientist said the rock contains clay minerals that formed in a watery environment - an environment that may be favorable for microscopic organisms.
Curiosity had already found a hint of the site's watery past - an ancient streambed that the six-wheel rover crossed to get to the flat bedrock.
The rover made a dramatic landing near the Mars equator last August for a two-year mission.
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