18 NOVEMBER 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Stunning Discovery on Mars Adapted from Information by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Scientists were stunned earlier this year when a rock driven over by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover cracked open and revealed something never seen before on the Red Planet: yellow sulfur crystals. The rock Curiosity cracked open is made of elemental, or pure, sulfur. It isn’t clear what relationship, if any, the elemental sulfur has to other sulfur-based minerals in the area. While people associate sulfur with the odor from rotten eggs, elemental sulfur is odorless and forms in only a narrow range of conditions scientists haven’t associated with the history of this location. Curiosity found a lot of it - an entire field of bright rocks which look similar to the one the rover crushed. “Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert,” said Curiosity’s project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it. Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting.” This is one of several discoveries Curiosity has made while off-roading within Gediz Vallis channel, a groove that winds down part of the three-mile-high Mount Sharp. Each layer of the mountain represents a different period of Martian history. Curiosity’s mission is to study where and when the planet’s ancient terrain could have provided the nutrients needed for microbial life, if any ever formed on Mars. Spotted from space years before Curiosity’s launch, Gediz Vallis channel is one of the primary reasons the science team wanted to visit this part of Mars. Scientists think the channel was carved by flows of liquid water and debris leaving a ridge of boulders and sediment. The goal has been to develop a better understanding of how this landscape changed billions of years ago, and while recent clues have helped, there’s still much to learn from the dramatic landscape. Since Curiosity’s arrival at the channel earlier this year, scientists have studied whether ancient floodwaters or landslides built up the large mounds of debris rising up from the channel’s floor here. The latest clues suggest both played a role: some piles were likely left by violent flows of water and debris, while others appear to be the result of more local landslides. Those conclusions are based on rocks found in the debris mounds. Stones carried by water flows become rounded like river rocks, some of the debris mounds are riddled with more angular rocks which may have been deposited by dry avalanches. All this evidence of water continues to tell a more complex story than the team’s early expectations, and they’ve been eager to take a rock sample from the channel to learn more. Earlier this year, they got their chance. While the sulfur rocks were too small and brittle to be sampled with the drill, a large rock nicknamed “Mammoth Lakes” was spotted nearby. Rover engineers had to search for a part of the rock that would allow safe drilling and find a parking spot on the loose, sloping surface. After Curiosity bored its 41st hole using the powerful drill at the end of the rover’s seven-foot robotic arm, the sixwheeled scientist trickled the powderized rock into instruments inside its belly for further analysis so scientists can determine what materials the rock is made of. Curiosity has since driven away from Mammoth Lakes and is now off to see what other surprises are waiting to be discovered within the channel. Editor’s Note: In between our print issues, the WWDR Team prepares an electronic newsletter called E-News Flash by WorldWide by WorldWide Drilling Resource®. This newsletter is filled with articles not included in our print issue. Based on readership, this was the most popular article of the month. Get in on the action and subscribe today at: worldwidedrillingresource.com EXB Curiosity Mars rover viewed yellow crystals of elemental sulfur. The discovery marks the first time this mineral has ever been found in a pure form on Mars. Booth 611
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