NASA Stunned by "Mind-Blowing" Hint of Possible Past Life on Mars

NASA scientists are celebrating the accidental discovery of pure sulfur on Mars. It's another hint that there may once have been life on the Red Planet.

On May 30, NASA’s Curiosity rover rolled over a rock in Gediz Vallis that broke open. Inside were crystals of pure yellow sulfur. Those are the first pure sulfur crystals found on Mars. The find was confirmed by remote analysis.  

“Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert,” NASA scientist Ashwin Vasavada said in a statement. “It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it.”

The Gediz Vallis is a channel that runs down from 3-mile-high Mount Sharp. It is believed to have been carved out by flowing water three billion years ago. It's filled with sulfates. They are salts containing sulfur left behind by evaporating water. Unlike sulfates, pure sulfur is formed under conditions that had not been observed in the Gediz Vallis before. 

On Earth, the presence of pure sulfur in the ground is often a sign of past microbial life.  

“No one had pure sulfur on their bingo card,” Vasavada told CNN. He called the discovery “mind-blowing.”

Curiosity has investigated the Gale Crater and Mount Sharp since it landed on Mars in August 2012. The craft contains scientific gear. Those include 17 cameras, a drill for taking samples, and a laser that can study rocks that are out of reach. It will finish its study of Gediz Vallis. Then, it will head to the west side of Mount Sharp, said NASA. 

Reflect: What do you think we can learn about our own planet by studying other planets?

Photo of yellow sulfur crystals on Mars, from Instagram courtesy of @perseverance.mars.