Mars scientist explains why NASA chose Gale Crater for new rover

NASA chose Gale Crater as a landing site for its Mars Science Laboratory rover because the giant crater probably had conditions that may have once hosted life. The bottom layers near the crater floor "have minerals in them ...

Scientists discover initial stages by which gypsum crystals form

Gypsum is a naturally occurring mineral which is often used in industrial processes and which in nature, if left alone for thousands of years, can grow into huge translucent, towering and eerie, crystals more than 10 metres ...

Opportunity rover finds mineral vein deposited by water

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found bright veins of a mineral, apparently gypsum, deposited by water. Analysis of the vein will help improve understanding of the history of wet environments ...

Slowest crystal growth ever measured

(PhysOrg.com) -- Deep within a silver and lead mine in Naica, Mexico, scientists discovered what is now known as Cueva de los Cristales, or Cave of Crystals, close to a decade ago. The gypsum crystals found in this cave measure ...

Ordered Water: Just how much water is there in calcined gypsum?

(PhysOrg.com) -- Gypsum was used as a building material in antiquity and is still widely used as a binder in plaster, drywall, and spackling paste. Known as dihydrate in construction chemistry, gypsum is a water-containing ...

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