NASA’s Curiosity rover accidentally opened a rock on Mars and revealed a yellow treasure

with Curiosity RoverNASA has been exploring Geddes Valles Channel On Mars since October 2023, an unexpected discovery has recently been made: pure sulfur Which they called “Yellow Treasure“

This result It has been a product of chance ever since. The rover accidentally broke a rock.Which revealed the sulfur inside it when you walked over it.

Although this is not the first time evidence of sulfur has been found on Mars, since then It has already been identified in other minerals on the planet.This is the first time that sulfur has been discovered in this area. Thanks to the rover’s passage, an entire field of stones was also discovered in which sulfur was not mixed.

Ashwin Vasavada, Project Scientist curiousity At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, they compared this result to “Find an oasis in the desertHe added:It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it.“

The goal of curiosity

The spacecraft spent ten years in this region of Mars, just below Mars. Mount SharpCuriosity has been conducting research since 2014. Its goal is to learn more about the planet’s history. By studying the mountain layersIn the hope of discovering potential nutrients that could make life on Mars possible, if it exists at all.

The Geddes Valles Channel, where Curiosity is currently located, is of great scientific interest, as the space agency believes it was formed by “Liquid water and debris flow“, in its current form It is a product of floods and landslides..

Despite this discovery, how pure sulfur fits into the composition of Mars remains a mystery. However, researchers hope to have more answers soon. Because this is not the only rock that has the element inside it.

According to NASA, although the rocks the rover smashed into were very small and fragile, curiousity Upon studying them, they found a large rock near them, which they called “mammoth lakes“

The 25-cm crater made by the Curiosity rover in the Mammoth Lakes bedrock.

This rock was the target of the rover that He managed to puncture it with a drill at the end of his robotic arm. Two meters to get a powder sample that will be analyzed by the devices inside. The goal is to study the materials that make up the rocks.

At the moment, curiosity Continues its exploratory mission inside the canalWhile scientists analyze the samples to better understand the planet’s composition.