Space & Astronomy

White rock interior unveiled on Mars

By T.K. Randall
March 20, 2013 ·  26 comments

Image Credit: NASA The image was returned after the rock was crushed by the rover's wheels when it ran over the top of it. Nicknamed "Tintina", the rock's colour indicates the presence of hydrated minerals that are thought to have formed by flowing water in the planet's distant past. The discovery adds to previous indications of water discovered when the rover drilled in a different rock a few weeks ago.

"This is one of the brightest and whitest things we've seen with the Mastcam at the Gale Crater site," said Caltech's Melissa Rice. "This rock, Tintina, has a very strong hydration signal that corresponds to all that white material we see inside the rock. This water is left over from a previous wet era and is now trapped and preserved in these hydrated minerals."[!gad]The image was returned after the rock was crushed by the rover's wheels when it ran over the top of it. Nicknamed "Tintina", the rock's colour indicates the presence of hydrated minerals that are thought to have formed by flowing water in the planet's distant past. The discovery adds to previous indications of water discovered when the rover drilled in a different rock a few weeks ago.

"This is one of the brightest and whitest things we've seen with the Mastcam at the Gale Crater site," said Caltech's Melissa Rice. "This rock, Tintina, has a very strong hydration signal that corresponds to all that white material we see inside the rock. This water is left over from a previous wet era and is now trapped and preserved in these hydrated minerals."

Source: BBC News | Comments (26)

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