Rover Curiosity on Mars.
Curiosity has found a bizarre rock on Mars that looks like a flower. It was discovered thanks to a rover that photographed something very attractive on the surface of Mars. At first glance, the object looks like a small flower or maybe even some type of organic element, it is a mineral formation.
The rover’s research team confirmed that this object is a mineral formation with fine structures created by the precipitation of minerals from water. Studies of previous similar formations found on Mars show that the formation was originally immersed in rock that eroded over time. However, these clusters of minerals appear to be erosion resistant.
What would humanity look like if it moved to Mars: It would completely change shape
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Flowers are actually minerals
Diagenetic crystal clusters are formations that have previously been recorded due to rovers. Diagenetic means recombination or rearrangement of minerals, and these formations consist of three-dimensional crystal clusters that are likely to be formed by a combination of minerals. These previously observed formations were formed by salts called sulfates.
The second name for these formations is the concretion you may remember from the Opportunity cart, which observed formations nicknamed “blueberries.” They were small and round.
Rover, cameras and their discoveries
The rover’s scientific team named these mineral formations ‘Blackthorn Salt’. To take these detailed pictures, they used a Mars Hand Lens Imager, called a MAHLI, a rover version of a magnifying hand camera that geologists usually carry with them to the field. Detailed images of MAHLI reveal minerals and textures on the rock surface.
Curiosity found another flower-like formation as early as 2013, and the Spirit rover found similar-looking rocks that were nicknamed “cauliflower” formations because of their bumpy protrusions.
See the documentary about the special find on Mars here:
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Source: Youtube
Thanks to the discovery of the universe and other planets in our solar system, we can constantly gather new knowledge.
Resources:
www.universetoday.com/tag/mars-science-laboratory-msl/, headtopics.com, www.universetoday.com
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