Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Mars Rover finds more evidence of water

|
|
 
  
Published: May 21, 2007 at 4:26 PM
Advertisement

PASADENA, Calif., May 21 (UPI) -- Martian soil analyzed by NASA's rover Spirit is providing some of the strongest evidence yet that ancient Mars was once much wetter than it is now.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientists say a concentrated deposit of silica found by the rover would have required the presence of water.

Members of the rover science team heard from a colleague during a recent teleconference that the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer measured a composition of about 90 percent pure silica.

"You could hear people gasp in astonishment," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University, principal investigator for the Mars rovers' science instruments. "This is a remarkable discovery. And the fact that we found something this new and different after nearly 1,200 days on Mars makes it even more remarkable. It makes you wonder what else is still out there."

Exploring a low range of hills inside a Connecticut-sized basin called Gusev Crater, Spirit previously found other indicators of long-ago water at the site, including patches of water-bearing, sulfur-rich soil; alteration of minerals; and evidence of explosive volcanism.

© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Crimefighter who rides a chopper. In Afghanistan. And is a female. Don't mess with her
Daily Show writer partners with Slate to crowdsource ideas for amending and rewriting the Constitution....
Canada's national archives is being dismantled and scattered, who needs to remember the history...
Man disappears in Niagara Falls whirlpool; presumed to be spinning in his grave
Woman swallows toothbrush while brushing her teeth. Surgeons remove it before Oral B becomes Anal...
MSNBC Host Chris Hayes: I'm 'Uncomfortable' calling fallen military 'Heroes'