Pathfinder

Los Angeles Times reported on October 9, 1997, in a story titled Mars Keeps Looking More Like Earth, that the Pathfinder adds weight to evidence of Mar’s being a warm, wet history capable of supporting life.

The Red Planet has a layered structure, much like Earth. Closeup photos taken by the rover before a recent communications breakdown show signs that some martian rocks consist of smaller pebbles cemented together over time. The pebbles' roundish shapes suggest that they were carried by flowing water, and pockmarks, or sockets, in the rocks appear to be places where pebbles were dislogded.