NASA ’s Curiosity rover is about to tap the jolty vein of Mars , which might concede clues to the Red Planet ’s weak past times .
Exploring a region not far from where itlanded on 6 August , theCuriosity roverhas determine rocks shot through with nervure of short - dyed minerals . chemic analysis from one of the rover ’s remote - sensing cameras shows that the veins are hydrated calcium sulphates , maybe gypsum . They in all likelihood formed when pee flowed through fractures in the bedrock and left dissolved material behind behind .
The find takes NASA ’s mantra “ follow the urine ” to a whole new tier .
“ The exciting thing about precipitate minerals is that we know something dissolved rock and roll somewhere else on the planet and ions got channelize along by a fluid , ” say project scientistJohn Grotzingerduring a teleconferencing yesterday . examine the mineral - laced rocks can give clues to where the water came from and to environmental conditions when the veins formed .
The squad will practice the rover ’s Mandrillus leucophaeus for the first metre on a veined outcrop named John Klein , an homage to a former project doer who conk in 2011 . The Mandrillus leucophaeus can seize with teeth about 5 centimetre into Martian rock , collect pulverise samples and surrender material to other onboard instruments for analysis .
“ What we are skip to do is get a sense of the mineralogy – how many sedimentary mineral phase are present , the isotope proportion , and even a chance to look for organics , ” Grotzinger said .
Although initially thought too mild to save fossils , late work showed that gypsum on Earth canhold traces of ancient C - based life .
Elsewhere at the situation – a shallow Great Depression dubbed Yellowknife Bay – the rover has blob rocks studded with rounded features called spherule , which also tell of fluids at work .
“ We are feeling confident these are sedimentary concretions [ rock forge as deposit wash from afar become cemented together ] , ” Grotzinger say . “ Put that together with the vein , and basically these rocks were saturated with water system . ”
Another rock outcrop at the site shows a grain call cross - bedding , which resembles stacked layers of rock . These features on Earth are link with water push small dunes of sediments along astream bed . “ There ’s a genuine drift that ’s emerge here on our tour , ” Grotzinger tell .
The team wo n’t be ready to drill for a few hebdomad yet , as they proceed to take sample with other instrument and then drive the rover to the John Klein outcrop .
“ It takes a passably extended period of clip because drilling is the most significant engineering thing we ’ve done since landing , ” say rover project coach Richard Cook . squad phallus have also been test and recording the cracking diverseness of rock-and-roll case at Yellowknife Bay , some of which may also become aim for boring .
“ It ’s safe to say scientist have been led into the candy storage , ” Cook say . “ I ’m really excited about the next few calendar week . ”
Image by NASA / JPL - Caltech / MSSS
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