WASHINGTON: Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover has discovered the perfect amounts of clay minerals ever discovered during its venture on the purple planet, the United States area agency said.
The rover recently drilled two samples at rock targets called "Aberlady" and "Kilmarie" in a region of Mars called the "clay-bearing unit".
Both drill targets were unveiled in a new selfie taken by way of the rover on May 12, the 2,405th Martian day, or sol, of the venture, Nasa said in a statement.
This clay-enriched region, positioned on the aspect of decrease Mount Sharp, stood out to Nasa orbiters earlier than Curiosity landed in 2012, the United States area agency said.
Curiosity is exploring Mount Sharp to look if it had the stipulations to toughen life billions of years ago. Clay regularly bureaucracy in water, which is essential for life.
The rover's mineralogy device, called CheMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy), equipped the primary analyses of rock samples drilled within the clay-bearing unit.
CheMin additionally discovered very little hematite, an iron oxide mineral that was abundant simply to the north, on Vera Rubin Ridge.
Other than proof that there was a vital amount of water once in Gale Crater, what these new findings mean for the region is still up for debate, in line with the United States area agency.
It is most probably that the rocks within the area shaped as layers of dust in historical lakes- something Curiosity additionally discovered decrease on Mount Sharp, NASA said.
Water interacted with sediment over time, leaving an abundance of clay within the rocks there, it said.
The rover recently drilled two samples at rock targets called "Aberlady" and "Kilmarie" in a region of Mars called the "clay-bearing unit".
Both drill targets were unveiled in a new selfie taken by way of the rover on May 12, the 2,405th Martian day, or sol, of the venture, Nasa said in a statement.
This clay-enriched region, positioned on the aspect of decrease Mount Sharp, stood out to Nasa orbiters earlier than Curiosity landed in 2012, the United States area agency said.
Curiosity is exploring Mount Sharp to look if it had the stipulations to toughen life billions of years ago. Clay regularly bureaucracy in water, which is essential for life.
The rover's mineralogy device, called CheMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy), equipped the primary analyses of rock samples drilled within the clay-bearing unit.
CheMin additionally discovered very little hematite, an iron oxide mineral that was abundant simply to the north, on Vera Rubin Ridge.
Other than proof that there was a vital amount of water once in Gale Crater, what these new findings mean for the region is still up for debate, in line with the United States area agency.
It is most probably that the rocks within the area shaped as layers of dust in historical lakes- something Curiosity additionally discovered decrease on Mount Sharp, NASA said.
Water interacted with sediment over time, leaving an abundance of clay within the rocks there, it said.
Curiosity rover finds clay cache on Mars: Nasa
![Curiosity rover finds clay cache on Mars: Nasa]()
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May 30, 2019
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