Opportunity finds water clues on Mars
NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity has found veins of a mineral deposited by water that will help improve understanding of the history of the Red Planet.
The latest findings by Opportunity were presented at the American Geophysical Union’s conference in San Francisco on December 7, Science Daily reported.
"This tells a slam-dunk story that water flowed through underground fractures in the rock," lead investigator for Opportunity Steve Squyres of Cornell University told reporters.
"This stuff is a fairly pure chemical deposit that formed in place right where we see it,” he added.
“That cannot be said for other gypsum seen on Mars or for other water-related minerals Opportunity has found. It’s not uncommon on Earth, but on Mars, it’s the kind of thing that makes geologists jump out of their chairs."
The vein examined by Opportunity is 0.4 to 0.8 inch (1 to 2 centimeters) wide and 16 to 20 inches (40 to 50 centimeters) long.
The deposit likely formed from water dissolving calcium out of volcanic rocks.
The calcium combined with sulfur had been deposited as calcium sulfate into an underground fracture and later became exposed at the surface.
Opportunity and its twin rover, Spirit, completed their three-month prime missions on Mars in April 2004.
Both rovers continued for years of extended missions and made important discoveries on Mars.
Spirit stopped communicating in 2010 but Opportunity continues exploring.
NASA launched the next-generation Mars rover, the nuclear-powered Curiosity, on November 26, 2011.
The new rover shifts the search to organic elements key to life.
Source: presstv.com
