Mars Rover 'Opportunity' Finds Traces Of Water

NASA's Mars Rover has made a distinguished discovery of traces of water on Mars with the gypsum found on the planet. Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. Though gypsum was found on other parts of the planet too, this is a decent chemical composite, convincing of the water traces around the area. The latest findings were presented on Wednesday at the American Geophysical Union's conference in San Francisco.

The mineral vein of gypsum that was explored by Mars Rover Opportunity is about as wide as the human thumb (1 to 2 centimeters) and 40 to 50 centimeters long and has a slight protrusion when compared to adjacent bedrocks. Observations have revealed that deposits like these have been likelier within an apron surrounding a segment of the rim of Endeavour Crater. None such gypsum deposit was found in the 20 miles land the Opportunity rover scaled during last 90 months of its expedition.

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The vein which is informally named "Homestake" was examined using  the Microscopic Imager and Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer on the rover's arm and multiple filters of the Panoramic Camera on the rover's mast. The multiple filters on the camera detected the gypsum to be a hydrated calcium sulfate, of the various forms in which calcium sulfate of the gypsum can be found in. It is likely that it formed from water dissolving calcium out of volcanic rocks and later deposited as calcium sulfate into an underground fracture.

It is still a mystery to the researchers as to why the vein was only found within the apron and not on the plains. "Homestake" and similar veins of gypsum mineral are more prominent in areas where sulfate-rich sedimentary rock meets older, volcanic bedrock, exposed at the rim of the Endeavour region. This might be a working clue to the origin of the water traces found.

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