spacetoday.net: NASA to announce "significant" Mars discovery Tuesday

Posted: Tue, Mar 2, 2004, 10:27 AM ET (1527 GMT)
Mars Exploration Rover (NASA/JPL)

NASA announced Monday that the space agency will hold a press conference Tuesday afternoon to reveal what it calls "significant findings" from the Odyssey Mars rover. The press conference, scheduled for 2 pm EST (1900 GMT) from NASA Headquarters in Washington, will feature several scientists involved with the project. The nature of the findings was not revealed, but most speculation centers on discoveries that would either prove the past existence of large amounts of water on the surface of Mars or provide another explanation for how deposits of hematite, a mineral that on Earth forms in the presence of water, came into being at the Odyssey landing site.