NASA found salt in the rock of Mars, how will this discovery reveal the secrets of life on the Red Planet?
The US space agency NASA recently successfully acquired rocky samples from Mars. Now the agency announced on Friday that the samples found by the rover indicated that there was a time when the environment suitable forever existed on Jezero Crater. in line with the agency, the core sample is basaltic, which indicates rock formed from lava emanating from the volcano. Such rocks contain less silica and more iron and magnesium. With this discovery, it's going to help to seek out out when this ancient lake formed and when it disappeared.
NASA has chosen Jezero Crater for this mission because research has shown the chance that there was water in past. This raises the chance of life ever being present here. Ancient life may be found within the crater's sediments and it should be possible that if life is feasible on Mars within the future, then its glimpse may also be seen here. However, it's not known how long the water was within the lake.
Looking at both the sample collected by the rover and the rock sample that was tried before, it's known that underground water must are here for an extended time. in line with Mitch Schultz, the mission's program scientist at NASA Headquarters, these samples are of great importance for lab analysis after they are available to Earth. He has expressed hope that someday the sequence of minerals present in these rocks and also the environmental conditions at the time of their formation may also be ascertained.
With this, answers to the large questions associated with the presence of water on Mars are found. As per the Ground team, the rock sample contains salts that will have formed when groundwater replaced the first minerals. The salt could also be left over after the water has evaporated. NASA has told that there may have also been water within the salt. If this happens, they'll be used as 'time capsules' which will give clues about Mars' climate and the possibility of life. Many clues are found from the captivity of ancient life in salt on Earth.
According to scientists, it's was that underground water reached when there was water within the crater or the water within the lake remained inside the rocks after dehydration. it's not clear how long the water was here, but NASA is bound that there must was an environment suitable for the expansion of microorganisms during that point. The following location of NASA can be South Seitah, which is taken into account to be an old rocky layer, while the samples that was acquired are of the new layer. With the assistance of samples from South Seitah, it'll be possible to grasp how the land of the crater and also the lake were formed.