NASA’s Curiosity Rovers Discovers Game-Changes Evidence That Can Ultimately Reveal Why Mars Became a Dead Planet | Science & Environment News
Mars – believed to look a lot like the earth, with the ocean with a vast ocean and a thick atmosphere of life support – is now a cold, dusty wasteland. For decades, scientists have plagued what really caused this drastic shift. But now, NASA’s curiosity roamers may have just discovered a long-term clue to the mystery of this universe.
In a groundbreaking discovery, Curiosity discovered the Siderite of the carbonate mineral, embedded in the sulfate-rich rock layer of Mount Sharp in the Great Wind Crater. This mineral discovery can ultimately answer a burning question: What happened to the ancient atmosphere of Mars?
A planet that might be like the earth
Billions of years ago, Mars was not the desolate planet we know today. Scientists believe it once was full of a strong atmosphere, filled with carbon dioxide, enough to support the liquid water on its surface. Naturally, theory suggests that if this is the case, the surface rocks on Mars should show signs of reacting with carbon dioxide and water to form carbonate minerals.
I found clues to one of the many mysteries on Mars!
There is strong evidence that liquid water on Earth is a billion years old, indicating a carbon-rich atmosphere. But where did everything go? My Chemin instrument found a mineral that might help with the answer. https://t.co/q1rffet9v1 pic.twitter.com/pseamzssrx– Curious Rovers (@marscuriosity) April 17, 2025
But so far, data from orbiting satellites and past rover missions have been trying to find large amounts of carbonate sediments, bringing this theory to question.
Breakthrough Discovery
Curious Wanderer changed the game. Meanwhile, the lower, sulfate-rich layers were explored, curiosity drilled into the Martian surface only 3-4 cm, and rock samples were extracted. These analyses were used using Chemin instruments (a powerful vehicle-mounted mineral identification laboratory).
To the scientists’ surprise, the team found a rich form of Siderite in the samples.
The second and third samples contained the first rock specimen. Both samples include igneous rocks, which would be useful as scientists determined the age of the material at that location. More information about all samples: https://t.co/mto5mosadx pic.twitter.com/ug9wvlyth0– NASA MARS (@nasamars) April 18, 2025
“The discovery of abundant crystalline stones at the Great Wind Crater represents both our understanding of Martian geology and atmospheric evolution, and is also a surprising and important breakthrough,” said Benjamin Tutolo, the lead author of the study published in Science.
Peeking into the ancient times of Mars
Crawling into the surface of Mars is like stripping the pages of a planetary history book. Only a few centimeters, curiosity discovered the appearance of the Red Planet and how it might have died.
“Drilling on the Mars surface at a level is like browsing a history book. Only a few centimeters of bottom layer gives us a good idea of ​​the minerals formed on or near the ground about 3.5 billion years ago,” said Thomas Bristow, a NASA research scientist at AMES Research Center.
Have you ever collected rocks? this @nasapersevere Rover collects the ultimate rock collection – the answers that reveal the greatest mystery of Mars.
Here is a visit to the samples collected so far, the stories they might tell https://t.co/xpqsfd1vkz pic.twitter.com/ndb9ugykth– NASA MARS (@nasamars) April 17, 2025
These findings suggest that the chemical conditions required to form auxiliary substances existed long ago. This supports the idea that Mars once had a carbon-rich atmosphere, and the loss process may be slower and more complex than previously thought.
What does this mean for future Mars research
This is not just another rock discovery, it is a big step in solving the mystery of Martian climate collapse. Understanding how Mars transitions from humid, warm to cold and barren is not only the key to understanding the red planets, but also the fate of planetary climates, including Earth.
It also reinforces people’s search for signs of ancient life, as the past would provide a wetter, more habitable Mars.
As curiosity continues to climb Mount Sharp and dig deeper into Mars’ past, each rock sample brings us closer to answering one of the biggest questions about space exploration: Life on Mars once existed – what causes it to disappear?
