CURIOSITY ROVER OF NASA DISCOVERS PURE SULFUR CRYSTALS ON MARS

On the surface of the Red Planet, pure, yellow sulfur crystals have been found by NASA's robotic rover Curiosity. launched on November 27, 2011, more than ten years ago, to figure out whether life exists or can exist on the planet Curiosity has scaled the planet's varied terrain, including Mount Sharp recently, examined different geological materials, and discovered evidence that liquid water once existed on Mars at Gale Crater.

These discoveries have been crucial to expanding our knowledge of Mars' historical climate and assessing the planet's viability as a future home. This new finding adds another puzzle piece to the whole. During exploration in the Gediz Vallis channel, an area formed billions of years ago by massive water and debris floods, Curiosity was directed to capture a panoramic image of far-off white rocks that piqued the interest of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) researchers.

Crushed rock was discovered in the rover's tracks by the scientists after they had looked through the Mastcam photos. Earlier, when the one-ton car had driven over the rock, it had unintentionally cracked. Inside, the researchers found translucent, yellow crystals that astounded them. The team was shocked to learn that the crystals were made entirely of sulfur after examining the composition with the rover's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer.

On Earth, sulfur is not a novel substance. Sulfates have been found in Martian soil by the former Mars exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity, both of which were launched in 2003. That being said, this is the first time the element has been discovered in its pure state. Curiosity had previously found the element on Mars in combination with other minerals, for example, as sulfates, a form of salt left over from when the planet's water evaporated. Although there are plenty of sulfates in the region where the rover discovered the crystals, pure sulfur differs from sulfates in that it is made up entirely of sulfur atoms and is not bonded to oxygen. 

The discovery of pure elemental sulfur is extremely unusual since hydrothermal vents and other similar locations are where we typically find it on Earth, according to Briony Horgan, a co-researcher on the Perseverance rover mission. Consider Yellowstone! Therefore, I find it quite puzzling how this rock in Mount Sharp formed.

Although the cause of the elemental sulfur's formation remains unknown, researchers are still examining the surrounding environment.