NASA Robot ‘Runs Over’ Rock on Mars, Breaks, Reveals Minerals Never Before Seen on Planet | Science

NASA’s Curiosity rover made an unprecedented discovery on Mars “accidentally.” It came across a shiny rock that broke off and inside was pure sulfurIt is a mineral that has never been found on the planet in this form before, according to the space agency.

The discovery was made on May 30, but the revelation only came now. Since October, the robot has been exploring an area rich in sulfates, a type of salt that contains sulfur and forms when water evaporates. But in this version, the sulfur is mixed with other materials, not the way it was found.

What’s more – in the area that Curiosity is now exploring, there’s a whole field of rocks similar to the one the rover ran over.

“Finding a field of rocks made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert,” said Curiosity project scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it. Finding strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting,” the scientist said.

🤖 The robot is exploring an area called Gediz Vallis, a type of canal that may have been formed by large floods of water and rock debris that accumulated inside the canal. The robot’s mission is to study when and where The planet’s ancient terrain could have provided the nutrients needed for microbial life — if it existed at all.

Curiosity has been on Mars since 2012. During that time, the equipment has produced many stunning images, like veritable “postcards” of the Red Planet. See the image below which was sent in June 2023: