CAPE CANAVERAL
(Reuters) - When scientists selected a stone to test the laser robot on Mars
Curiosity, expected to enclose the same raw materials as the stones found in
other areas of the Red Planet, but in its place realized that it was more
similar to rocks found on Earth.
The stone was
chemically more like an unusual rock type found on oceanic islands like Hawaii
and Santa Elena, and in continental areas with cracks as the Rio Grande, which
stretches from Colorado to Chihuahua, Mexico.
"It was a bit of a
surprise what we found with this stone," said Ralf Gellert Curiosity
scientist at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, during a
teleconference with reporters Thursday.
"It volcano"
said Gellert, referring to melt rock formed. "But it seems to be a new
species of the type of rock found on Mars."
The robot reached Mars
Curiosity two months ago to see if the planet most like Earth in the solar
system was suitable for microbial life.
On laser was used to
break the rock Curiosity and analyzed robot powdered material and the hole left
behind, to determine its chemical composition.
They found that the
stone lacks magnesium and iron, found in volcanic rock elements examined by the
rovers Spirit and Opportunity on Mars previously.
The stone was also rich
in minerals feldspar-like, giving clues about the history of rock.
"The way in which
way this rock (...) is as was the apple brandy," said geologist Edward
Stolper Reuters.
In colonial times apple
cider was placed in large barrels and winter froze the liquid part.
"You had
crystallized ice and did more and more and more concentrated liquor flavored
apple," Stolper said.
The magma inside a
planet can undergo a similar process.
"Melt the inside
and comes to the surface and, like the apple brandy, when enfrÃas, crystallized,"
Stolper said, adding that they require very specific conditions on Earth to
produce this type of magma.
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