Revealing the potentially habitable climate of ancient Mars is a key part of NASA’s mission to explore and understand the unknown, to inspire and benefit humanity – and for 10 years, the Curiosity rover has been on the case at the Red Planet. To mark the occasion, here are five of the most significant discoveries that scientists have made using Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite. SAM is one of NASA’s most powerful astrobiology instruments on Mars. Designed and built at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, SAM searches for and measures organic molecules and light elements, which are important to life as we know it.
