Scientists were stunned recently when a rock the Curiosity rover drove over cracked open to reveal something never before seen on the Red Planet: yellow sulfur crystals. While the rover has previously detected sulfur-based minerals, this rock is made of pure, elemental sulfur. "Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert," said Curiosity’s project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada. "It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it. Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting." More on this news: go.nasa.gov/3WdKZNh
I was asked by a small newspaper back in 1997 to write an explanation about why the Pathfinder mission was so exciting (I was working at an observatory at the time). In the piece I explained that there were scientific goals for every mission, for example trying to understand the changes in the climate of Mars, but it was the unexpected that truly made it exciting. The piece was entitled "The mission to Mars is a search for surprises." Fortunately, the surprises keep coming in science.
Daniel Csati
1mo
Pure Gold or Rhodium would promote the space program even better 😂
Lin XIA
1mo
This reminds me of sea floors and some active volcanos currently erupting natural sulfur. They are coming from the deep of the earth. The Mars's surface was likely to present a deeper part of the earth, I guess.
Just driving over a rock, and bam, pure sulfur. It's an incredible discovery, really is. Native sulfur is formed when hydrocarbons come in contact with sulfate minerals in presence of liquid water. Likely to be saltwater too?
Ananya Garg
1mo
Sounds exciting! But I am curious, if sulfur-based minerals were already found, why is it a surprise to have found a pure sulfur crystals? Is it because S is highly reactive and it is strange how it's occurring in the elemental form?
Susan Mallette
1mo
I wish they would spend this money on a cure for cancer instead of space endeavors
Michael S
3w
It proves geothermal venting under water. Which suggests a fissure and underground cavern possibly. Or massive sulfur chrysalises and chambers. Which could indeed be biological. Now a naysayer could say AI. Thats over a billion spent. On what exactly… even for a secret project that much money spent reported is counterproductive and also provides a lot of room for graft. But the Tempur Pedic bed exists. Sooo… and a lot of tech, we use today. Like Android, Samsung, Apple. All in your hand… and if you take a micrometer, and consider the chrysalis structure by black and white scale measure under given local gravity reported by instrumentation. Any AI, that can’t draw toes, is too accurate… hmmmm… OpenAI? Anyone?
Natasha Morris
1mo
Could this be a paleosulphur spring (one naturally exists today on Borup Fiord Pass, Ellesmere Island)? Or evidence of H2S once existing /degassing on Mars? Geochemistry is so fascinating, and sulphur is such a hard element to pin down, very cool!
Terry Bollinger
1mo
What a delightful accidental find! While sulfur crystals are very common near volcanic vents on Earth — in Iceland recently, for example — it seems wildly out of place as a random rock when Curiosity is cruising along in an area lacking obvious volcanic vents. Deeply fascinating!
Mechanical Engineer. MIEAust- CPEng- APEC Engineer- IntPE(Aus)
1moI’m not into chemical engineering, but from my experience in conducting RCA for different power plant components, I can see that the elemental sulfur typically forms under specific conditions such as high temperatures activity, the thermal decomposition of sulfates, or potentially through biological processes or maybe volcanic (not sure if there was volcano activities on the red planet). This finding underscores the need to model reaction kinetics and thermodynamics to predict the stability and formation pathways of sulfur under the environment of the Mars conditions, which could support future human missions by providing raw materials for various applications, including the production of sulfuric acid, fertilizers, or construction materials. Hopefully, NASA will come out with good results for the benefit of human kind.