• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Mars data studied for sign of mineral linked to water; scientists

Posted on: Friday, 30 January 2004, 06:00 CST

PASADENA, California (AP) -- Scientists were trying Friday to determine whether NASA's Opportunity rover had spotted evidence of a mineral that typically forms in water, a finding that could suggest that dry and dusty Mars was once wet.

NASA also said the six-wheeled rover should roll off its lander early Saturday, less than a week after it safely landed on the opposite side of Mars from its twin, Spirit. It was the second time in two days that NASA moved up the time.

The rover team is hunting geologic evidence that would show whether the planet ever was wet enough to support life.

Scientists were cautious but smiling during a Jet Propulsion Laboratory news briefing when asked if Opportunity had discovered gray hematite by using an instrument that measures infrared radiation. Gray hematite is an iron-rich mineral that typically -- but not always -- forms in liquid water.

Confirmation of the discovery should take a few days, as scientists ``check and double check'' the new measurements, said Ray Arvidson of Washington University, the mission's deputy main scientist.

``We're still in the process of downloading other ... data sets to corroborate the initial analysis,'' he said.

A NASA satellite previously identified the presence of the mineral at Opportunity's landing site. Scientists believe the mineral covers up to 20 percent of the surface of an area hundreds of kilometers (miles) across.

Word of whether the rover's roll-off is successful should come by 1130 GMT Saturday, rover systems engineer Daniel Limonadi said. NASA had earlier moved up the scheduled journey from Sunday to late Saturday.

Spirit, meanwhile, is expected to return to full health by Sunday, after software problems ground its mission to a temporary halt.

On Friday, NASA showed new images taken by Spirit, including the first-ever microscopic image of a rock on the surface of Mars. Spirit should begin drilling into the rock in the next four days, letting its instruments examine a freshly exposed, unweathered surface.

Initial measurements of the rock, dubbed ``Adirondack,'' suggest it is an olivine-rich basalt, said scientist Bodo Bernhardt, of the University of Mainz, Germany.

The rock, the most common on Earth's surface, is of volcanic origin and doesn't require water to form, disappointing scientists eager to find geologic evidence Mars once was wetter.

``It is not the kind of smoking gun evidence we're looking for,'' Arvidson said.

------

On the Net:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov

More News in this Category