Scientists recently got a special surprise from the Opportunity rover: evidence of past water on Mars.
According to The Planetary Society, the rover spent the first half of May in Marathon Valley at the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover was instructed to use its left front wheel to excavate some red pebbles. However, NASA’s team of scientists were surprised find instead salts rich in sulfate, sand and other pebbles, all evidence to suggest that water was once in the area.
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For months, scientists working with the data collected by Opportunity had theorized the area, which had deep-red bands, were caused by troughs, having formed when fractures in the ground, allowed groundwater to rise.
“It’s a big, big surprise,” Steve Squyres, principal investigator told The Planetary Society. “I don’t think there is one of us who expected this.”
Opportunity has been on Mars since 2004. Its mission was only expected to last 90 sols (Martian days), or roughly 93 Earth days. It continues to provide valuable scientific evidence, as this finding proves.
Another rover, Spirit, reached Mars just three weeks prior to Opportunity. It became stuck in 2009 and stopped communication in 2010.
Opportunity has found evidence of water in other places on the red planet.