Flower on Mars: Curiosity Rover Finds Lovely, Delicate Rock Formation on Red Planet [Look]

NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, has obtained a photograph of a small and delicate mineral 'flower' on the Red Planet.

Curiosity has previously spotted diagenetic crystal clusters similar to these structures.

According to Science Alert, diagenetic refers to recombined or rearranged minerals. These characteristics are three-dimensional crystal clusters made up of various minerals.

NASA Curiosity Rover Finds Flower-Like Materials

NASA Curiosity Rover discovered a mineral deposit with exquisite shapes produced by minerals precipitating from water.

Curiosity deputy project scientist Abigail Fraeman, said in a Tweet that these previously seen structures were formed of salts called sulfates.

According to earlier studies of similar structures found on Mars, the feature was once embedded within a rock that eroded away over time. On the other hand, these mineral clusters appear impervious to erosion.

Concretion is another term for these characteristics, per the Opportunity rover (via Universe Today), which found features called "blueberries" because they were tiny and spherical. In the shot below, the concretions are close to a flower-like structure.

Simeon Schmauss has created a 3-D model of the thing, which you can view here:

This feature was discovered earlier this week by the rover scientific team and given the name 'Blackthorn Salt.' These close-up photographs were taken with the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI).

This camera is the rover's counterpart of the magnifying hand lens that geologists typically bring into the field. MAHLI's close-up photos show the minerals and textures in rock surfaces.

About Natural Materials on Mars

According to data from Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector, researchers have discovered that using natural materials on Mars, like rock and silt, might protect from constant radiation.

In August 2012, the 1-tonne rover landed within an old impact basin. It immediately detected a chemically and geologically suitable location within the Gale Crater landing site for the same type of rock-eating microorganisms seen on Earth.

"We're finding things on Mars that are tantalizingly interesting, but we would really need more evidence to say we've identified life," Paul Mahaffy, who served as the principal investigator of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) chemistry lab aboard Curiosity, said per WIONews.

"So we're looking at what else could have caused the carbon signature we're seeing, if not life," Mahaffy added.

Mars, unlike Earth, lacks a magnetic field to protect it from high-energy particles zipping across space. That radiation has the potential to harm human health and potentially jeopardize the life support systems that Mars explorers would rely on.

In the same WIONews report, Goddard astrobiologist Jennifer L. Eigenbrode stated that the most challenging part is trying to get into the foundations of the chemistry, physics, and environmental processes on Mars.

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