Nasa heads to Scottish Highlands in its search for life on Mars

It is not the first time Scotland's ancient geology has been used by scientists to help them understand how life could have existed on Mars.Last year, technology which will be used in the search for evidence of Martian life was tested by a University of St Andrews team at Lower Diabaig, in Torridon.The rocks in the area are billions of years old and similar to those found on the Red Planet.Eight years ago, a Nasa Mars rover, Curiosity, explored a part of the planet named after Torridon.Martian geological areas and features have been named by Nasa after places on Earth.Several of the names were taken from Scotland and, as well as Torridon, there is a Siccar Point, Muck, Wick, Sandwick and Holyrood on Mars.Nasa chose the name Torridon due to the Torridonian Supergroup, a geological formation in the north-west Highlands that contains some of the oldest evidence of life of any rocks in the UK.In 2012, Glenelg held a celebration in honour of a location on Mars being named after the small Highland community.