NASA scientists expressed that they were “stunned” after their Mars Curiosity rover cracked open a rock that was found to contain pure sulfur crystals, a NASA press release read Thursday.
The Curiosity rover’s social media account tweeted that the “pure sulfur … doesn’t smell” and the discovery of elemental sulfur “is something we’ve never seen before on Mars.” (RELATED: Crew Of Simulated Mars Environment Emerges From NASA Habitat After A Year)
*Cronch* I ran over a rock and found crystals inside!
It’s pure sulfur. (And no, it doesn’t smell.) Elemental sulfur is something we’ve never seen before on Mars. We don’t know much about these yellow crystals yet, but my team is excited to investigate. https://t.co/Am07DuXpPX pic.twitter.com/coIqWWGGJq
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) July 18, 2024
“We don’t know much about these yellow crystals yet, but my team is excited to investigate,” the rover tweeted.
NASA scientists are still unsure “what relationship, if any, the elemental sulfur has to other sulfur-based minerals in the area” the rock was found in, according to the press release. NASA added that all previous discoveries were that of “sulfur-based minerals — in other words, a mix of sulfur and other materials.”
The rover — following its unprecedented discovery — has found “an entire field of bright rocks that look similar to the one the rover crushed,” the press release revealed.
NASA dispatched the Curiosity rover to explore a region of the Red Planet “rich with sulfates” in October 2023, the press release read.
“Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert,” Ashwin Vasavada, project scientist for the Curiosity, said in the press release. “It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it. Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting.”
