The UA Lunar and Planetary Lab's HiRISE camera got some major coverage last week on this here blog via our very own Jim Nintzel with the latest findings that there's strong evidence of flowing water on Mars. And, they say, where there is liquid water, there could be life. And where there's life, there's pen pals...on Mars! I. Can't. Wait.

Speaking of water, here's a shot, courtesy of the good folks at HiRISE, of a Slope of Gale Crater, which is covered in hot water deposits, which formed to cool the crater billions of years ago. Alfred McEwen tells us:

This image covers materials near Gale Crater just north of the planned Mars Science Laboratory landing site.

It is possible that hydrothermal deposits formed here in association with the creation and cooling of Gale Crater billions of years ago. This material could then have been transported into the landing ellipse by fluvial processes. Hydrothermal deposits may represent evidence for an ancient habitable environment on Mars.