The lucky Mars rover, Curiosity, has captured a bizarre image of a glowing crack, where a treasure trove of gems may provide evidence of life.
In the photo released by NASA, something resembling a “glow” appears amid the arid surface of Mars.
The resilient and fortunate NASA rover – Curiosity – has approached and discovered that the crack serves as an entrance to an ancient lakebed filled with opal (cat’s eye stone). Beyond being a literal treasure, this collection of gemstones brings something even more valuable: Evidence of the potential presence of extraterrestrial life, very recently!
NASA’s “golden” photo revealing signs of a fault that is very likely an entrance to another world – (Photo: NASA).
According to Live Science, geologists explain that this opal indicates that water and rock interacted beneath the surface of Mars much more recently than previously thought, enhancing the prospects that life once existed there, and may still be lurking somewhere.
Water is the missing piece needed for Mars to become a habitable planet, as scientists have indicated that in subsurface shelters, life forms could be protected from the planet’s intense radiation and survive.
There is ample evidence of water on Mars. Curiosity and other NASA robots have also roamed areas that are clearly ancient river plains. However, these have been dry for billions of years, leading to the belief that Martian life – if it ever existed – went extinct billions of years ago.
However, the opal found in an area known as Gale Crater, an ancient lakebed spanning 154 km that Curiosity has been exploring since 2012, has shed new light on the situation.
A team of scientists led by physicist Travis Gabriel from the United States Geological Survey examined Curiosity’s vast data archive and pointed out the surprising findings. The chemical properties of the rocks were analyzed indirectly through a study of a set of other fracture zones, including the Lubango drilling site.
At Lubango, scientists operated DAN, a device that measures neutrons ejected from the surface of Mars attached to Curiosity, which helps it detect water since neutrons slow down in the presence of hydrogen, a key component of water.
The results confirmed the presence of opal, a water-rich stone. “With the network of fractures spreading across Gale Crater, it is reasonable to hope that conditions below the surface suitable for this life also extend to many other areas within the lakebed, and possibly even beyond in Mars. These environments were formed long ago when the ancient lakes in Gale Crater dried up,” Dr. Gabriel stated.
The research has just been published in the scientific journal Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
