[meteorite-list] NASA Rover's First Soil Studies Help Fingerprint Martian Minerals

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:26:11 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201210302026.q9UKQBgS009757_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

Oct. 30, 2012

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov

Rachel Hoover
Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, Calif.
650-604-4789
rachel.hoover at nasa.gov

RELEASE: 12-383

NASA ROVER'S FIRST SOIL STUDIES HELP FINGERPRINT MARTIAN MINERALS

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has completed initial
experiments showing the mineralogy of Martian soil is similar to
weathered basaltic soils of volcanic origin in Hawaii.

The minerals were identified in the first sample of Martian soil
ingested recently by the rover. Curiosity used its Chemistry and
Mineralogy instrument (CheMin) to obtain the results, which are
filling gaps and adding confidence to earlier estimates of the
mineralogical makeup of the dust and fine soil widespread on the Red
Planet.

"We had many previous inferences and discussions about the mineralogy
of Martian soil," said David Blake of NASA Ames Research Center in
Moffett Field, Calif., who is the principal investigator for CheMin.
"Our quantitative results provide refined and in some cases new
identifications of the minerals in this first X-ray diffraction
analysis on Mars."

The identification of minerals in rocks and soil is crucial for the
mission's goal to assess past environmental conditions. Each mineral
records the conditions under which it formed. The chemical
composition of a rock provides only ambiguous mineralogical
information, as in the textbook example of the minerals diamond and
graphite, which have the same chemical composition, but strikingly
different structures and properties.

CheMin uses X-ray diffraction, the standard practice for geologists on
Earth using much larger laboratory instruments. This method provides
more accurate identifications of minerals than any method previously
used on Mars. X-ray diffraction reads minerals' internal structure by
recording how their crystals distinctively interact with X-rays.
Innovations from Ames led to an X-ray diffraction instrument compact
enough to fit inside the rover.

These NASA technological advances have resulted in other applications
on Earth, including compact and portable X-ray diffraction equipment
for oil and gas exploration, analysis of archaeological objects and
screening of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, among other uses.

"Our team is elated with these first results from our instrument,"
said Blake. "They heighten our anticipation for future CheMin
analyses in the months and miles ahead for Curiosity."

The specific sample for CheMin's first analysis was soil Curiosity
scooped up at a patch of dust and sand that the team named Rocknest.
The sample was processed through a sieve to exclude particles larger
than 0.006 inch (150 micrometers), roughly the width of a human hair.
The sample has at least two components: dust distributed globally in
dust storms and fine sand originating more locally. Unlike
conglomerate rocks Curiosity investigated a few weeks ago, which are
several billion years old and indicative of flowing water, the soil
material CheMin has analyzed is more representative of modern
processes on Mars.

"Much of Mars is covered with dust, and we had an incomplete
understanding of its mineralogy," said David Bish, CheMin
co-investigator with Indiana University in Bloomington. "We now know
it is mineralogically similar to basaltic material, with significant
amounts of feldspar, pyroxene and olivine, which was not unexpected.
Roughly half the soil is non-crystalline material, such as volcanic
glass or products from weathering of the glass."

Bish said, "So far, the materials Curiosity has analyzed are
consistent with our initial ideas of the deposits in Gale Crater
recording a transition through time from a wet to dry environment.
The ancient rocks, such as the conglomerates, suggest flowing water,
while the minerals in the younger soil are consistent with limited
interaction with water."

During the two-year prime mission of the Mars Science Laboratory
Project, researchers are using Curiosity's 10 instruments to
investigate whether areas in Gale Crater ever offered environmental
conditions favorable for microbial life. NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the project for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington, and built Curiosity and CheMin.

For more information about Curiosity and its mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/msl

For more information about a commercial application of the CheMin
technology, visit:

http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/mars-rover-technology-helps-unlock-art-mysteries/

You can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at:

http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity

and

http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity
        
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Received on Tue 30 Oct 2012 04:26:11 PM PDT