Mars Exploration Rovers

Rovers discovered plenty of salts on Mars. Bright soil contains salts, including iron-bearing sulfates and light-colored soil mainly composed of silica are possibly originated from water. Deposits of closely pure silica in Gusev Crater may have developed when volcanic steam or hot water leached through the ground. These deposits found around hydrothermal vents are important for past habitability’s studies of Mars as Earth’s hydrothermal environments support microbial ecosystems.

Both rovers found compelling evidence that liquid water was once plentiful on Mars. Rocks at the Opportunity landing site contain tiny spheres-nicknamed “blueberries”, suggesting that they formed in standing water, or possibly by groundwater percolating through rocks. Compositional analysis shows that the “blueberries” contain the iron-rich mineral hematite, and nearby rocks contain sulfur-rich mineral jarosite. Both minerals form in water, and chemical analysis supports the case for formation in a salty environment such as a sea or ocean. Moreover, we find very similar “blueberries” that formed in water on Earth, and a close look at the layering of the sedimentary rocks suggests a changing environment of waves and/or wind. Previous theories suggested they were created by simple chemical reactions without the help of life, but research last year revealed clear evidence that microbes were essential in their formation. This raised the possibility that Martian ‘blueberries’ may not only revealed that water was present on Mars, but also ancient microbial life. Spirit detected magnetite (ferrimagnetic mineral) in the first two rocks ground by it. Uncovering signs of the past presence of water and a more habitable environment are among the rovers' most import...

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...robial life.

Spirit and Opportunity rover has now been laid down in Mars but they gave a tremendous amount of information about the soils and rocks in Mars. The soils in Plain discovered to have a mixture of minerals olivine, pyroxene, plagioclase and magnetite, scientists classified them as bassart. Soils in Plain are made up from the break-down of rocks. It is known that Plain’s rock has been altered by tiny amount of water. Most of the rocks are coated by dust and other harder materials. They also discovered a vast amount of rocks in Colombia Hills but only a few of them are actually altered by water. Spirit also found out that the dust in Gusev Crater has a magnetic properties that caused by the mineral magnetite. Layer of dust are suggested to contain chemically bound water. Spirit and Opportunity provide clear evidences about the presence of water in Mars