Nasa collect Rum rocks ahead of Mars space mission

Nasa scientists are collecting past rocks from the Isle of Rum due to the fact that they are precise akin to rocks connected Mars.

The Rum rocks volition beryllium utilized to practise investigating methods earlier a abstraction ngo returns with samples from the reddish planet.

Nasa's Perseverance Rover is collecting rocks from a crater connected Mars which volition beryllium brought to Earth successful 2033.

The Martian rocks could uncover clues astir however the satellite evolved, including the imaginable for past life.

Rum, disconnected the westbound seashore of Scotland, has been selected arsenic the lone UK tract for sampling.

For the past week, scientists person been gathering rocks from the NatureScot National Nature Reserve (NNR) arsenic portion of the associated Nasa and European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Sample Return Campaign.

Some of Rum's igneous rocks person a precise akin mineral and chemic contented to those recovered successful the Séítah Formation wrong the Jezero crater connected Mars.

Scientists volition survey them successful bid to recognize what methods of investigating and investigation volition enactment champion for erstwhile the Martian rocks are brought to Earth.

The Martian rocks volition beryllium the archetypal samples brought to Earth from different world.

The Rum sampling is being led by Dr Lydia Hallis, a geologist and planetary idiosyncratic from the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences astatine the University of Glasgow.

Dr Hallis, who is simply a subordinate of the campaign's subject group, said the Rum rocks were an "excellent comparison" to those successful the Mars crater, arsenic they were "characterised by the mineral olivine".

She added: "Not lone is the mineralogy and chemistry similar, but the 2 rocks look to person a akin magnitude of weathering.

"This seems unusual erstwhile we deliberation however bedewed and lukewarm Rum is compared to contiguous time Mars, but billions of years agone erstwhile the Séítah Formation crystallised connected Mars the quality successful situation would not person been truthful pronounced.

"At this clip Mars was overmuch wetter and warmer, with a thicker ambiance that whitethorn adjacent person produced rainfall - though not arsenic overmuch arsenic we get successful Scotland!"

She said that the Martian ambiance thinned implicit clip which near the aboveground overmuch dryer and colder.

This stopped immoderate further weathering wrong Séítah and preserved the rocks astatine Jezero Crater.

Dr Hallis explained: "The rocks connected Rum are younger geologically than those that person been collected connected Mars by Perseverance.

"But their vulnerability to the Scottish elements has produced astir the aforesaid magnitude of weathering arsenic was produced successful the Séítah Formation during Mars' aboriginal bedewed and lukewarm climate.

"Because of each these similarities, investigation of the Rum rocks should springiness america a bully caput commencement and assistance the samples from the Red Planet execute their afloat imaginable erstwhile they are returned to Earth."

Lesley Watt, NatureScot's Rum NNR reserve manager, said: "With its extinct volcanoes and melodramatic mountains, Rum has ever been 1 of the champion places to observe Scotland's world-class geology, but we didn't rather realise that the rocks present were of interplanetary value arsenic well.

"It has been fascinating to larn much astir the Nasa/ESA mission, and truly breathtaking for the land to play a tiny portion successful this genuinely historical endeavour to find retired much astir Mars.

"We anticipation it volition adhd yet different constituent of involvement for visitors to this peculiar place."