Unexpected mineral spotted on Mars: NASA

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: In yet another addition to the field of technology, scientists at NASA have spotted unexpected mineral on Mars.

Scientists claim to have discovered tridymite -- an unexpected silica mineral in a rock sample at Gale Crater on Mars that may alter our understanding of how the Red Planet evolved.

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, has been exploring sedimentary rocks within Gale Crater since landing on Mars surface in August 2012.

On sol 1060 (the number of Martian days since landing), the rover collected powder drilled from rock at a location named “Buckskin", NASA found in a study.

Scientists in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston led the study and the paper on the team's findings was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

(With IANS inputs)