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Discovery of Pure Sulphur on Mars
Context:
On May 30, 2024, scientists were amazed when NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover drove over a rock, causing it to crack open and reveal yellow sulphur crystals—an unprecedented discovery on Mars.
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- Since October 2023, Curiosity has been exploring a sulphate-rich region(a kind of salt that contains sulphur and forms as water evaporates), but this is the first time it has encountered elemental (pure) sulphur.
- Past detections involved sulphur-based minerals, which are a mix of sulphur and other materials.
Key Highlights
- Elemental sulphur, unlike sulphur compounds that often emit a rotten egg odour due to hydrogen sulphide gas, is odourless. It forms under specific conditions not previously associated with this location on Mars.
- Curiosity’s project scientist likened the find to “discovering an oasis in the desert.”
- The unexpected presence of pure sulphur necessitates further investigation to understand its formation and significance in Martian history.
- Since arriving at Gediz Vallis earlier this year, scientists have examined the large mounds of debris in the channel. The latest clues suggest a combination of ancient floodwaters and landslides shaped the area.
Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California.
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- It is designed to explore Mars’ surface and determine if Mars could have supported life.
- It was launched on November 26, 2011, by an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- Landed in Gale Crater on Mars on August 6, 2012.
- Key Discoveries:
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- Found evidence that early Mars could have supported life.
- Discovered traces of organic molecules in rock layers 3.5 billion years old.
- Detected seasonal variations in methane levels in the Martian atmosphere.
- Identified water-transported gravel, suggesting Gale Crater was once the floor of an ancient stream.
Curiosity’s exploration of the Gediz Vallis channel
- A groove that winds down part of the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometre-tall) Mount Sharp, the base of which the rover has been ascending since 2014.
- Objective: To study and determine where and when Mars’ ancient terrain might have provided the necessary nutrients for microbial life if any ever existed.
- Scientists believe the channel was formed by ancient flows of liquid water and debris, leaving behind a ridge of boulders and sediment.
- Some debris piles were likely formed by violent water and debris flows, while others seem to result from local landslides.
- Evidence includes rocks that are rounded like river stones, indicative of water transport, and more angular rocks that suggest dry avalanches.
- Water also permeated the settled material, causing chemical reactions that bleached white “halo” shapes into some rocks. Erosion from wind and sand has revealed these halo shapes over time.
Rock Sampling
- On June 18, 2024, Curiosity drilled its 41st rock sample from a large rock nicknamed “Mammoth Lakes,” located near the sulphur rocks.
- Curiosity drilled its 41st hole using the powerful drill on its 7-foot (2-meter) robotic arm for analysis to determine the rock’s composition.