The Opportunity rover built by NASA confirmed conclusively the presence of previous liquid water on the red planet. It soon produced interesting evidence of its exploration at Meridiani Planum when it landed in 2004. They included gray hematite spherules, mineral conditions that needed liquid water and were found by the rover.
Analysis of opportunity at the Eagle Crater gave concrete evidence. It detected sulfate-bearing evaporate minerals such as jarosite in bedrock sediments. These minerals only form in standing acidic water proving that there were surface waters in the ancient past.
The Endurance Crater was further examined and layers of cross-bedded sedimentary rocks were found. These were formations that were as a result of water flow, e.g. streams or waves. These layers were also ascertained to be sulfate- rich, as confirmed by the rover, fortifying the wet ancient environment.
Arriving at the Victoria Crater, Opportunity revealed a complicated geological history of sustained water activity that occurred in a huge passage of time. This showed that water was not a fleeting event but an influential, significant element on the ancient Martian planet.
The findings of opportunity changed our perception. The fact that it has discovered the presence of hematite, sulfates, and water-generated sedimentary structures shows that liquid water used to abound on Mars. This has been its overriding success as it confirms the existence of a possibly habitable previous environment.
Conclusion:
The Mars rover Opportunity was able to give clear evidence that there had been liquid water on Mars in the past. This was finally conclusive on the existence of an ancient wet environment, provable through hematite spherules, sulfate evaporites and water erosion-formed sedimentary structures, such as at Eagle and Endurance craters. This data established beyond any possibility of doubt that Mars had held surface water persistent enough to sculpt geology, and that forever shifts our perceptions of the past history of the planet.
