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New light on Martian mystery
By Helen Briggs
BBC News Online

Soil in one of the oldest and driest deserts in the world is a close match to the rocky red soil of Mars, say scientists.

Sunset over the Atacama Desert
The discovery of Martian-like soil in Chile's Atacama Desert could shed light on the landings of the Viking spacecraft on Mars in the 1970s.

Dry and largely devoid of organic material or microbial life, the desert earth has similar chemical properties to the Red Planet's.

The finding could explain why tests conducted by the Mars Viking missions raised false hopes in the search for life on another planet....