The Soil of Mars

Many people wonder what it would be like to step foot on Mars. Many people also wonder if the terrain of Mars could support life. With the help of recent discoveries by NASA’s Curiosity Rover, we are one step closer to finding out. Currently the Curiosity Rover is located in a region of Mars called “Rocknest.”

(Left) This image shows “Rocknest” as it would look on Mars.
 (Right) This image shows“Rocknest” under lighting conditions on Earth.

The rover took a sample of soil from this region. The sample was analyzed with its Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument, as known as CheMin for short. The CheMin uses an Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) in order to analyze samples. The CheMin shoots X-Rays at a sample of soil, and using a method called X-Ray defraction. They use X-Ray diffraction because each mineral has a distinct interaction with X-Rays. Using this method not only determines what minerals are in the soil, but also how abundant they are.

This image shows how X-Ray defraction works. Each ring represents a mineral and its abundance.

For a better understanding of how the CheMin works, check out this video:

This was the first sample the rover took. Part of the soil was determined to be basaltic and alkalic material. These materials are similarto the minerals found in Hawaii and other volcanic areas. This is expected because Mars is one of the most actively volcanic celestial bodies in our solar system. Some of the materials discovered include volcanic glass, silicon, aluminum, sodium, and potassium. Most of these materials are thought to have been formedthrough the breakdown of rocks by water, an essential part of determining if a planet can contain life. However, there are other processes that could break these rocks down, so scientists are not jumping to any conclusions.

Although all of this is preliminary, scientists are very optimistic about future tests.