Russian instrument has found an oasis on Mars

Russian scientific instrument DAN installed on the Curiosity Rover found on the red planet anomalous zone. NASA scientists after the original findings have deployed a Rover deliberately, in order to explore unnatural "oasis", which may contain water.

In a press release published on the website of Institute of space research (IKI) of Russian Academy of Sciences, explains that this event happened on the night of may 21, 2015. "The Rover crossed the unusual area of significant increase of the thermal neutron flux from below the surface. Considering the opinion of the researchers, showed that in the soil of this region is there a significant number of water, about 10% by weight, or the fact that this soil has a rather unusual chemical composition," convince domestic scientists.

NASA supported the idea of national academics to deploy the Rover and send it again to the examination of the unusual plot. Not to mention the fact that the team that manages the laser of the ChemCam project, also proposed to better analyze this plot, as the soil contains an increased number of silicon oxide. The nature and origin of the anomalies is still unclear.

Note that all 3 years that Curiosity crisscrossing the surface of the red planet, it has Russian active neutron detector DAN. Despite the fact that the period of work of the Russian device expired in 2013, the unit works to this day in a challenging Martian environment.

The device previously recorded that in the course of almost 10 km, traversed by the Rover on the floor of Gale crater from the landing area to the foot of mount sharp, the percentage compliance of water in the Martian soil did not exceed 5%, and the boundary between the layers is at a depth of about 20 cm.

sections: Society, World News