Opportunity has continued to exceed expectations, not least because it is still going after 8 years despite being designed to last only 90 days. Now it has discovered clay deposits that suggest the region it is in is a lot richer than scientists had believed. The clay minerals are significant because they suggest neutral water chemistry, indicating water clean enough to drink.
"If Opportunity can find a sample and give us a closer look, we should be able to determine how the rock was formed, such as in a deep lake, shallow pond or volcanic system," said planetary scientist James Wray.
NASA's long-lived Mars rover Opportunity that beat newcomer sister probe Curiosity to an area containing water-formed clay minerals, has rolled into a region that may be far richer than scientists first realized.
0 comments:
Post a Comment