NASA spacecraft fires laser at Martian rocks to find clues to life

(NLDO) - Rocks scattered across the surface of Mars contain evidence of a world that may have once been teeming with life just like Earth.

NASA's life-hunting rover Perseverance has been firing lasers at rocks in the Jezero Crater region, where scientists suspect a giant river delta once existed. And it has found treasure.

The strange rocks at Jezero Crater are evidence of a world suitable for life that once existed on Mars - Photo: NASA

According to Science Alert , the targeted boulders stand out with their strange pale color, just lying on the surface of Mars, not matching the surrounding environment.

They are called "floating rocks" and are thought to have come from elsewhere, transported to their present location by water currents, weathering and erosion.

The Perseverance team guided the rover using a laser-induced decay spectroscopy device.

The laser pulse vaporizes a small amount of mineral in the rock and excites it.

The spectrometer then studies the light emitted by the atoms and ions in the mineral vapor as they return to their ground state, to see what elements those atoms and ions are.

"These rocks are very different from anything we've ever seen on Mars before," said planetary scientist Roger Wiens of Purdue University, lead author of the new study, calling the results a big surprise.

The main component of the rock is a mineral called kaolinite, a soft, white silicate clay mineral.

Kaolinite on Mars is slightly different from kaolinite on Earth, being significantly harder, possibly due to different weathering conditions.

But importantly, kaolinite requires moist, temperate conditions to form, which are also favorable for certain forms of bacteria to survive.

The researchers also identified a mineral called spinel, a magnesium-aluminum gemstone found on Earth, embedded within the kaolinite.

But in general, this composition shows that water once existed on the red planet, because without water, the existence of the above components would become absurd.

Therefore, this study, recently published in the scientific journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment, has further confirmed NASA's belief that Mars once had many oceans, rivers and lakes like Earth about 3 billion years ago.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/ban-laser-vao-da-sao-hoa-tau-nasa-tim-ra-manh-moi-su-song-196250317105314703.htm