How will mini-TES help determine if Mars once had water?
The mini-TES instrument is a 167 channel, high resolution, infrared spectrometer that can directly identify minerals around the landing sites. In Gusev Crater, mini-TES will look for minerals like carbonates and sulfates that form only in the presence of water. Finding them will provide strong evidence that Gusev was once a lake. In Meridiani Planum, mini-TES will help determine how the mineral gray hematite formed. On earth, gray hematite usually forms in the presence of water. At Meridiani, mini-TES will search for the minerals goethite and magnetite. If goethite is found, the area almost certainly once had water. If goethite is not present but magnetite is, the hematite formed under dry conditions.
