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rocks examined by nasa's spirit mars

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rover holds evidence of a wet non-acidic

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ancient environment that may have been

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favorable for life

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confirming this mineral clue took four

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years of analysis by several scientists

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in late 2005 spirit examined an outcrop

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that revealed high concentrations of

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carbonate carbonates originate in wet

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near neutral conditions but dissolve in

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acid

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the ancient water indicated by this

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particular find was not acidic

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nasa's rovers have found other evidence

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of formally wet martian environments but

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those environments were determined or

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believed to be acidic and therefore less

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favorable as habitats for life

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laboratory tests help confirm the

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carbonate identification

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this is one of the most significant

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findings by the rovers well the spirit

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rover

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found at

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outcrop and called the comanche outcrop

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it had a high percentage of uh of

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carbonate-bearing minerals in it in fact

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it was an iron magnesium iron carbonate

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mineral

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and this is really exciting because this

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this is a mineral that we had been

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looking for for a long time and only

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just now

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confirmed its presence

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but

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with respect to life

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we'll have to wait and see what what

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people come up with