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NASA ’s CuriosityMars roverhas accidentally unveil an abundance of never - before - seen crystal on the Red Planet after inadvertently running over a sway .
On May 30 , the roverwas exploring Gediz Vallis — a channel carved into the steep slope of Mount Sharp in the heart of Gale Crater — when it accidentally push back over a lowly rock , cracking it open . When the rover ’s photographic camera focused on what the robot had actuate over , scientists recognize peculiar yellow crystals gleaming among the rock ’s new discover innards .
Yellow crystals of pure, elemental sulfur appear inside a crushed Mars rock that NASA’s Curiosity rover accidentally drove over.
The crystals in the cracked John Rock were too small and delicate for the rover to by rights handle . But when the golem drilled into another nearby tilt , it revealed the crystals were made of pure sulphur .
sulphur has been detected on Mars before — but only when combined with other elements in compounds eff as sulfates . Until now , consummate sulfur , also known as elemental atomic number 16 , had never been plant on the Red Planet . scientist suspected there might be elemental sulfur somewhere on Mars but were surprised to find it inside surface rocks .
" It should n’t be there , so now we have to explain it,“Ashwin Vasavada , a Curiosity rover project scientist at NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory , say in astatement . " see unusual and unexpected things is what make world geographic expedition so exciting , " he add .
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photograph of the surrounding arena also unveil that the ground around these rock ‘n’ roll is littered with like geodes , NASA example wrote in the statement .
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The rover did n’t confirm the mien of the yellow watch glass in any other rocks . However , scientist are confident the nearby rocks also turn back sulfur , which makes this sphere a situation of interest for future study .
" receive a field of force of stones made of gross sulfur is like finding an haven in the desert , " Vasavada said .
Curiosity , which land in the region in 2012 , has found several other challenging rock in and around Gediz Vallis . In February , the rover snappedphotos of " wave " carve into an ancient lakebedby Martian piddle millions of year ago . And in May , the rambling robotfound rocks containing manganese oxide , which is the good grounds yet that the Red Planet once had an O - rich , Earth - like aura .
