The article Hitting Pay Dirt on Mars by Kenneth
Chang is about the composition of dirt and rocks on Mars. After studying dirt
and rocks on Mars, the rover Curiosity managed to determine what they are made
of. Even though the dirt on Mars looks dry, it contains a lot of water. In
fact, If you heated a cubic foot of dirt, you would be able to extract roughly
2 liters of water. This discovery completely changes what scientists had
previously thought of Mars. The idea that Mars is a desert planet is no longer
valid due to the large amount of moisture contained in the soil. The
soil consisted of crystals with atoms lined up both neatly and
irregularly. Even though water exists, none of the molecules needed for
carbon-based life on Mars have been found yet. As of yet, Curiosity has not
detected any methane, which means there are no “present-day microbes” present on
Mars. Due to the presence of perchlorates on Mars, it is difficult for
scientists to find traces of life. This is because carbon-based molecules will
turn into carbon dioxide if they are heated along with perchlorates. This
effectively destroys evidence of life on Mars. After examining the rocks on Mars, scientists
are beginning to believe that the geological processes on Mars are much more
complicated than they had previously thought. After examining a chunk of basalt
found by Curiosity, amounts of alkaline were discovered. Alkaline is formed by
the hardening of magma near water, deep inside the planet of Mars. This is
evidence of complex geological processes occurring within Mars.
The rover
Curiosity was sent to Mars in order to study Mars. It is supposed to determine whether or not
life had previously existed on Mars and whether or not it can support life. By finding large amounts of water in the soil, it is possible that Mars support life. Even though no
evidence of life in the past has been discovered by Curiosity, it does not mean
that life doesn’t exist on Mars. However, the presence of perchlorates makes it
very difficult to determine if life had existed on Mars. If Mars can support
life, it would be very important to us. We could continue research Mars and
maybe even live there.
I thought that the
article was very well-written and easy for anybody to understand. I thought it
was good that the article started off with the discovery of large amounts of
water on Mars. This grabbed my attention and made the article very interesting
to read. Because the article is fairly short, it is easy and enjoyable to read.
However, the article can be a bit confusing at times. It is not properly
organized so some facts are in the wrong places. Due to this, the article must
be read more than once in order for it to make perfect sense. If I could improve this article, I would definitely re-organize it.
Works Cited
Chang, Kenneth.
"Hitting Pay Dirt On Mars." Space and Cosmos. The New York
Times, 30 Sept. 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
I was astounded by this review. I truly admired how the author was able to make such an abstract thing like Mars' soil become relatable to the reader. For example, instead of saying that there is water in Mars' soil, it gives something to relate to, such as units of measure, and says that two liters of water can be extracted from Mars' soil if heated. I also thought that the review was well-written in the sense that it backed up its ideas with explanations. For instance, it backs up the fact that life cannot exist on Mars by saying that if you tried to heat carbon-based molecules, they would simply turn into carbon dioxide, since there are perchlorates present. Finally, I thought it was venerable how the review included even more information about alkaline, what it is, and what its significance is. One of the things that I was most amazed about was how you can extract two liters by a cubic foot of soil, simply by heating it. I also found it very interesting how the two Mars rovers have gained so much information based off of this review. While this review was excellent, I believe that it should have defined some terms at the beginning. For example, I did not know what perchlorates were before looking it up. However, overall, I thought it was an amazing review.
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