Mystery on Mars: Something Found That Shouldn’t Be There
The Curiosity rover has discovered a cluster of yellowish crystals on Mars. It turns out they contain an element that, according to current knowledge, should not exist on the Red Planet at all.
This is about sulfur, which was found in the Gediz Vallis canyon in late May 2024, when Curiosity began to crack the rocks there. However, it is not the sulfur itself that is particularly fascinating here.
The thing is that In order for sulfur to be created, several very specific conditions must be met – NASA explains. First of all, the presence of water is required, and not just any water, because on Earth sulfur usually occurs near hot springs, and in addition it is accompanied by bacteria.
This confirms earlier observations that the characteristic shape of the gorge was the result of water and mud. The space agency believes that the detection of sulfur is direct evidence of the presence of an oasis in the desert.
This shouldn’t be there, so now we’ll have to find an explanation for it.
– we read in the press release.
The rover used the built-in alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, also known as APXS, to conduct the study. This device uses an X-ray detector to analyze how an object will react when stimulated by small amounts of radioactive radiation.
