NASA Scientists Discover Unexpected Mineral on Mars

By Art Chimes Washington 07 August 2008

NASA scientists said on Tuesday that the Phoenix Mars Lander has detected the apparent presence of a chemically reactive salt called perchlorate in the Martian soil. Perchlorate is a toxic material that's used in rocket fuel, but the scientists said its presence doesn't lessen the possibility that Mars has or once had some kind of life on it. VOA's Art Chimes reports.

Perchlorate sounds like nasty stuff. It's used in pyrotechnic devices like fireworks and automobile air bags. It's found in soil here on earth mainly in extremely dry climates, including the Atacama Desert in Chile, where the soil has been described as Mars-like.

But just because it's toxic doesn't mean that life can't exist around perchlorates, says Phoenix scientist Sam Kounaves of Tufts University.

"There are actually a large number of plants that ... grow in perchlorate at certain levels," he said. "It's a benign chemical in terms of most organisms."

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