Mars exploration is one of the most important space projects in existence, the red planet has been studied for decades by NASA, and yet we still have hundreds of unsolved questions and mysteries.
NASA’s Curiosity rover found pure sulfur crystals. PHOTO NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The Curiosity robot is a space rover that has been exploring Mars for over 10 years, and during one of its walks on the red planet, it accidentally broke a rock when it passed over it. When scientists saw the images, they were amazed, because inside the rock they discovered a yellowish substance that they did not know, writes Mediafax.
This discovery called into question the knowledge about the geology of the planet Mars, while raising many question marks. Analyzes of the rock and its contents showed that the substance was pure sulphur.
This discovery is one of the most surprising and exciting to date, and as mission scientist Ashwin Vasavada explains:
“Finding a field of pure sulfur stones is like stumbling upon an oasis in the desert. It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain the phenomenon.”
Although this is not the first time that sulfur has been detected on Mars, finding it in its pure form is a novelty and a big enigma, because pure sulfur is usually associated with volcanic or similar activities, and there is no evidence of such phenomena on Mars, which leaves scientists without clear explanations.
“We’ve collected a ton of data and now we have a fun puzzle to solve.” Vasavada said in a statement. Although the discovery was already made several months ago and NASA is focusing a large part of its resources to investigate this case, the discovery of pure sulfur still remains a great mystery.
