Perviz Walji for Guardian Express Las Vegas, Nevada: Was Mars a water-rich planet once upon a time? The latest discovery of what appears to be clay-rich rock offers abundant evidence that water on Mars was present some three and half billion years ago, and perhaps life existed on Red Planet, according to NASA Scientists.
The clay-rich rock named, Esperance, was examined by the Mars rover Opportunity. The Opportunity is an older NASA spacecraft still operating on the planet. NASA scientists say there are abundant elements of aluminum, calcium and magnesium in Esperance. They say that the rich minerals could have formed from ample water running over volcanic rocks.
“This is powerful evidence that water interacted with this rock and changed its chemistry, changed its mineralogy in a dramatic way,” Steven W. Squyres, the principal investigator in the project said.
via Mars, once a water-rich planet? | The Guardian Express.
Perviz Walji is the author of Africa’s Fading Echoes: Tales from an Enigmatic Continent.
Ms. Walji was born and lived the early part of her life in Tanzania. She currently lives in the United States and has worked in writing, editing, production, and other media-related positions both in print and broadcast. Although she migrated from East Africa many decades ago, the sights and sounds of the region will forever echo in her soul.
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