NASA's Curiosity rover makes 'mind-blowing' discovery on Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover has made a 'mind-blowing' find connected Mars that scientists said 'should not beryllium there.'

The one-ton rover uncovered yellowish-green crystals of axenic sulfur during its hunt for chemic grounds that the Red Planet was erstwhile habitable.

While minerals containing sulfur person been observed successful nan Martian world, elemental sulfur connected its ain has ne'er been seen before.

Curiosity accidently cracked opening achromatic stones arsenic it traveled done nan Gediz Vallis channel, revealing nan 'strange' structures that adhd to nan increasing grounds that Mars was erstwhile a habitable world.

Sulfur is utilized to make 2 basal amino acids that are needed for proteins, deeming a motion of life connected Earth.

But scientists person not said Curiosity's find is an denotation of  past life connected Mars. 

The find has added to nan increasing grounds of different life-sustaining elements identified connected Mars including carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus.

Curiosity's task scientist, Ashwin Vasavada, said: 'Finding a section of stones made of axenic sulfur is for illustration uncovering an oasis successful nan desert.

'It shouldn't beryllium there, truthful now we person to explicate it. Discovering unusual and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration truthful exciting.'

The ground-breaking find was made connected May 30 while Curiosity was off-roading wrong Gediz Vallis channel, a groove that winds down portion of nan three-mile-tall Mount Sharp - nan guidelines of which nan rover has been ascending since 2014.

The six-wheeled rover has antecedently detected sulfur connected Mars but only mixed successful pinch different minerals for illustration magnesium and calcium.

When mixed pinch different elements, sulfur gives disconnected a pungent smell, but nan axenic sulfur recovered connected Mars is odorless.

NASA scientists astatine nan Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) successful California first identified a postulation of achromatic rocks and issued Curiosity instructions to explore.

The rover sent a close-up image of nan achromatic stones backmost to Earth, which included an receptor of crushed rocks adjacent Curiosity's wheels.

And that is erstwhile nan squad spotted nan yellowish crystals.

'I deliberation it's nan strangest find of nan full ngo and nan astir unexpected,' Vasavada told CNN.

'I person to say, there's a batch of luck progressive here. Not each stone has thing absorbing inside.'

While nan sulfur rocks were excessively mini and brittle to beryllium sampled pinch nan drill, a ample stone nicknamed 'Mammoth Lakes' was spotted nearby.

Rover engineers had to hunt for a portion of nan stone that would let safe drilling and find a parking spot connected nan loose, sloping surface.

After Curiosity saturated its 41st spread utilizing nan powerful drill astatine nan extremity of nan rover's seven-foot robotic arm, nan six-wheeled intelligence trickled nan powdered stone into instruments wrong its belly for further study truthful that scientists could find what materials nan stone is made of.

'No 1 had axenic sulfur connected their bingo card,' said Vasavada.

Sulfur rocks typically characteristic a 'beautiful, translucent and crystalline texture,' nan scientists explained.

But nan group seen connected Mars had been sandblasted for millions of years, which dulled nan agleam yellowish and made them look reddish for illustration nan surrounding landscape. 

However, nan find has added to nan increasing grounds of different life-sustaining elements identified connected Mars including carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus.

Gediz Vallis transmission is 1 of nan superior reasons nan subject squad wanted to sojourn this portion of Mars. The region is located conscionable southbound of nan Martian equator.

Scientists deliberation nan transmission was carved by flows of liquid h2o and debris, which near an extending 2 miles down nan mountainside beneath nan channel.

The extremity has been to create a amended knowing of really this scenery changed billions of years ago, and caller clues person provided insights.

Since Curiosity arrived astatine nan transmission earlier this year, scientists person studied whether ancient floodwaters aliases landslides built up nan ample mounds of debris that emergence from nan channel's floor.

The latest clues from Curiosity propose that some played a role: immoderate piles were apt near by convulsive flows of h2o and debris, while others look to beryllium nan consequence of much section landslides.

These conclusions are based connected rocks recovered successful nan debris mounds. While stones carried by h2o travel go rounded for illustration stream rocks, immoderate of nan debris mounds are riddled pinch much angular rocks that barren avalanches whitethorn person deposited.

Finally, h2o soaked into each nan worldly that settled here. Chemical reactions caused by nan h2o bleached achromatic 'halo' shapes into immoderate of nan rocks. Erosion from upwind and soil has revealed these halo shapes complete time.

'This was not a quiet play connected Mars,' said Becky Williams, a intelligence pinch nan Planetary Science Institute successful Tucson, Arizona, and nan lawman main interrogator of Curiosity's Mast Camera.

'There was an breathtaking magnitude of activity here. We're looking astatine aggregate flows down nan channel, including energetic floods and boulder-rich flows.'