What instruments were crucial for Spirit in identifying mineralogy that requires water to form?
Answer
The Mössbauer spectrometer and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS)
To move beyond visual confirmation and provide definitive chemical evidence regarding the role of water, Spirit utilized its sophisticated onboard laboratory instruments. The Mössbauer spectrometer and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) were specifically employed to analyze the elemental and mineralogical composition of the rocks and soil. These tools provided the necessary high-fidelity data to confirm the presence of minerals whose formation pathways definitively require the presence of liquid water, thus linking the geological features directly to Mars's ancient wet past.
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