Researchers discover a mineral on Mars that supports a well-known theory.
Frankfurt - There is apparently a mineral deposit on Mars that does not occur on Earth in this way.
An analysis of a meteorite led to this conclusion.
A team of international researchers carried out the study.
Fragments of the “Suizhou” meteorite showed traces of a new iron-magnesium silicate, as the research team showed in their study, which was published in the journal ACS Earth and Space Chemistry.
The mineral was named "Elgoresyte" by the team.
In a similar form, the mineral occurs in abundance on earth.
However, it differs significantly from the Mars variant "Elgoresyte" in one aspect.
Iron and magnesium have almost twice as high a proportion.
This is reported by Forbes magazine, among others.
This finding by the researchers supports a theory that came up during NASA's Insight Lander mission on Mars.
Investigations of the “red planet” raised the question of whether Mars has a higher density than Earth.
The analysis of the mineral "Elgoresyte" underlines this thesis.
Mars: "Perseverance" is to explore "red planets" further
NASA has expanded its exploration of Mars in recent years, particularly with the "Perseverance" program. Finally, the first drilling should take place on the planet. These failed, however: According to the US space agency, rock that was not sufficiently robust made it impossible for the rover to take a soil sample for the first time on Mars. NASA announced this on Wednesday (August 11, 2021). "The instruments worked as we specified, but the stone did not cooperate," said Louise Jandura, researcher at NASA. *
The next drilling on Mars is to take place in early September. The experts have already identified some promising spots on the “red planet”. In addition to meteorites such as “Suizhou”, NASA also researches asteroids. The space experts recently corrected their forecast for one copy. * (Tu / dpa)
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