NASA scientists stated the Curiosity Mars rover by chance found a cluster of yellow crystals whereas driving over a rock, marking the primary time pure sulfur has been discovered on Mars. And it seems to be like the realm is crammed with it. It was an surprising discovery – whereas minerals containing sulfur have been noticed on the Purple Planet, the ingredient sulfur itself had by no means been discovered there earlier than. “It shaped beneath solely a small set of situations, and scientists have but to attach these situations to the location’s historical past,” based on .
On Might 30, Curiosity opened up a rock whereas touring in an space referred to as the Gediz Vallis Strait, and related rocks might be seen in all places round it. The channel is believed to have been carved by water and particles flows way back. “Discovering a area of stones manufactured from pure sulfur is like discovering an oasis within the desert,” stated Curiosity undertaking scientist Ashwin Vasavada. “It should not be there, so now now we have to elucidate it. Discovering unusual and surprising issues is what makes planetary exploration so thrilling.”
After discovering the yellow crystals, the crew then took a better look utilizing cameras on Curiosity’s robotic arm. The rover then collected a pattern from one other close by rock as a result of the rock fragments it crushed have been too brittle to drill. Curiosity is supplied with devices able to analyzing rock and soil composition, and NASA stated its Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) confirmed its discovery of elemental sulfur.
