NASA’s Curiosity rover has uncovered groundbreaking mineral clues that may finally explain why Mars lost its atmosphere and became a barren wasteland.

A mineral called siderite found abundantly in rock drilled by a NASA rover on the surface of Mars is providing fresh evidence of the planet's warmer and wetter ancient past when it boasted substantial bodies of water and potentially harbored life.

Scientists using NASA’s Curiosity rover have discovered siderite—an iron carbonate—in the sulfate-rich rocks of Gale Crater, solving a long-standing mystery about Mars’ missing carbonates. This find p