NASA's Curiosity rover has discovered pure yellow sulfur on Mars. During its decade-long journey on the Martian surface, the four-wheeled rover cracked open a rock and revealed sulfur inside.
On May 30, while exploring Gediz Vallis, the Curiosity rover discovered this rock. The rover's camera focused on a rock it had tripped over, and scientists observed yellow crystals inside it.
After this crystal was found the rover found one more pure crystal of sulphur nearby. Sulfur has previously been detected on Mars, but it got discovered in combined form with other elements.
This is the first time that a pure form of sulphur on the Martian surface was discovered, according to NASA, Ashwin Vasavada, scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory working on Curiosity rover project said that, "It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it," he further added that, "Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting."
According to NASA Curiosity rover parked near another larger rock that is known Mammoth Lakes, because the crystal od sulphur it find earlier was too small to be studied by it.
The sulfur crystal was located in the inner area of the sample rover got and drilling inside it was not possible so this new large rock named Mammoth Lakes was chosen by the rover.
Thr rover uses a drill joint on its robotic arm to form a hole in the sample rock and and keep it for future observation and studies. It has been 12 years since Curiosity rover has landed on the Martian surface and doing its Mars exploration.
During its time on Mars, the Curiosity rover has made several significant discoveries, including the identification of various rocks, channels, and craters. One notable discovery is Gediz Vallis, a channel winding down the slopes of Mount Sharp in the center of the Gale Crater. This area has become a focal point for studying Martian life and the planet's geological history.
Curiosity has identified several intriguing features within Gediz Vallis, particularly in the mounds of debris scattered throughout the channel. The rocks in this region exhibit pale rings or halos near their edges, This discovery adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that Mars once had significant bodies of water.
Additionally, in May, Curiosity found rocks containing manganese oxide. This finding is particularly noteworthy because manganese oxide formation requires the presence of oxygen. The discovery of these rocks provides the best evidence yet that Mars once had an oxygen-rich, Earth-like atmosphere.
Overall, Curiosity's findings at Gediz Vallis and the adjacent regions have greatly expanded our knowledge of Mars' geological past and the possibility that the planet ever harboured life. Mars is a crucial location of interest for current and future exploration because of the evidence of previous water activity and the presence of oxygen-rich minerals that imply Mars may have once had suitable circumstances for life.
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