Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory November 27, 2013, an overview (titled, "The World of Mars") of current and proposed Mars exploration by John Grotzinger, chief scientist of the "Curiosity" rover mission, was published in the New York Times. On December 9, 2013, NASA reported that the planet Mars had a large freshwater lake (which could have been a hospitable environment for microbial life) based on evidence from the "Curiosity" rover studying Aeolis Palus near Mount Sharp in Gale Crater. On December 9, 2013, NASA researchers described, in a series of six articles in the journal Science, many new discoveries from the "Curiosity" rover. Possible organics
Scientific information from the Mars Exploration Rover mission a biosphere based on autotrophic, chemotrophic or chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms, as well as ancient water, including fluvio-lacustrine environments (plains related to ancient rivers or lakes) that may have been habitable. The search for evidence of habitability, taphonomy (related to fossils), and organic carbon on the planet Mars is now a primary NASA objective. On March 2, 2004, NASA announced that "Opportunity has landed in an area of Mars where liquid water once drenched the surface". Associate administrator Ed Weiler told reporters that the area "would have been good habitable environment", although no traces of life have been found. This statement was