Curiosity Rover Makes Beautiful Discovery of Pure Sulfur on Mars

When Curiosity ran over a rock and by accident broke it open, yellow-green crystals that had by no means been seen on Mars had been seen. “It was in all probability the strangest and most surprising discovery of the complete mission,” mentioned Ashwin Vasavada, undertaking scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “And this can be a blessing in disguise, as a result of not each stone or rock has one thing so fascinating.”

The rocks discovered turned out to be pure sulphur. Curiosity had beforehand found sulfates, or salts containing sulfur which can be shaped when water evaporates, on Mars. And the group had additionally already discovered proof of shiny white calcium sulfate in cracks on the Martian floor. “However no person had pure sulfur on their bingo card,” Vasavada mentioned.

Sulfur rocks often have a “lovely, translucent and crystalline texture,” however Martian climate has sanded the skin of the rocks to match the remainder of the planet, which is generally are orange tones.

“My jaw dropped once I noticed the picture of grief,” mentioned Briony Horgan, co-investigator of the Perseverance rover mission and a professor at Purdue College in West Lafayette, Indiana. the basic sulfur, as a result of on Earth we often discover it in hydrothermal vents. So it is a massive thriller to me how this sharp rock in Mt (a mountain on Mars, ed.) created.”

Pure sulfur is just produced underneath particular situations on Earth, resembling volcanic processes or in sizzling or chilly springs. Relying on the method, completely different minerals are created concurrently the bruise.

There isn’t a clear proof of how the sulfur shaped on Mars, however the group continues to research the information collected by Curiosity to learn the way and when every mineral was shaped. “There might have been a number of completely different situations on this rock slab,” mentioned Vasavada, “and so they shadow one another. We now have to unravel that now.”