Mars rovers finds soil consistent with liquid water
Posted: Sat, Feb 21, 2004, 10:13 AM ET (1513 GMT)
Sticky, fine-grained soil found at the landing sites of the twin MArs rovers Spirit and Opportunity may be consistent with, but not necessarily proof of, salty liquid water near the surface. Planetary scientists involved with the mission noted that soil in the Gusev Crater landing site tends to stick to the wheels of the rover Spirit. That stickiness could be explained if the soil was very fine-grained, but could also be evidence of salts left over from a brine that may still exist below the surface. Mission controllers plan to use Spirit's wheels to dig a trench similar to the one made recently by Opportunity on the other side of the planet so see what conditions are like several centimeters below the surface. Opportunity's trench revealed clumps of soil on the sides; scientists aren't sure what holds the clumps together. Images from Opportunity have also revealed fine threads of material on the surface that scientists and engineers believe is fabric from the lander's airbags.
Sticky, fine-grained soil found at the landing sites of the twin MArs rovers Spirit and Opportunity may be consistent with, but not necessarily proof of, salty liquid water near the surface. Planetary scientists involved with the mission noted that soil in the Gusev Crater landing site tends to stick to the wheels of the rover Spirit. That stickiness could be explained if the soil was very fine-grained, but could also be evidence of salts left over from a brine that may still exist below the surface. Mission controllers plan to use Spirit's wheels to dig a trench similar to the one made recently by Opportunity on the other side of the planet so see what conditions are like several centimeters below the surface. Opportunity's trench revealed clumps of soil on the sides; scientists aren't sure what holds the clumps together. Images from Opportunity have also revealed fine threads of material on the surface that scientists and engineers believe is fabric from the lander's airbags.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, March 31
Europe's engines powering Artemis II
ESA — 6:42 am ET (1042 GMT) Eight more satellites added to IRIDE space programme
ESA — 6:42 am ET (1042 GMT) Seven missions launched to test optimised data transfer from space
ESA — 6:42 am ET (1042 GMT) ESA marks 60 years of Star Trek at London's Science Museum
ESA — 6:42 am ET (1042 GMT) Vandenberg SFB supports National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Transporter-16 mission
US Space Force — 6:39 am ET (1039 GMT) |
