Silica on Mars

2008/01/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

One of NASA's vehicles on Mars, the Spirit, has discovered a silica rock. The discovery occurred by chance. A Spirit wheel is damaged and blocked when moving backwards, so in the backward journey it eliminates the typical reddish dust from the surface of Mars. Last April, NASA astronomers decided to analyze what a white stone film was, a blocked wheel. The vehicle crushed and analyzed a piece of stone. It was silica.

According to NASA astronomers it is important to find silica, as it may be related to the presence of microbes on Mars. In the soil, silica occurs in fumaroles and other volcanic areas, and biologists have shown that in this type of places several microbes can inhabit. Therefore, NASA astronomers have united these two ideas: if on Mars there are areas where silica can occur, there may have been microbes in those areas.