(WWJ) The Red Planet might need to update its name after NASA discovered an odd purple veneer coating a bunch of the planet's rocks.
Scientists are currently speculating on what caused the coloring and Mike Murray, from the Delta College Planetarium in Bay City, said this discovery is exciting because it could indicate water existed on Mars.
The Perseverance rover reportedly found evidence of this mysterious coloring on rocks at almost every site the craft has visited on the planet.
Murray said researchers are continuing to analyze the coating to see if they can uncover its origins.
After the rover pulverizes the rocks to a dust, scientists hope that can eventually be brought back to Earth where they’ll be able to reach a definitive conclusion about the origins of the purple coating.
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He speculates that the coloring looks as if it's a confirmation of iron oxide, relating it to the rusty colors sometimes found in Earth rocks that indicate the planet's been exposed to water.
Murray said this is the fun of science.
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"Science is never about, 'Oh, we expect to have instant answers for everything as soon as we see it,' right?" asked Murray. "That's the fun of exploring and testing -- to see what is it? What happened? What were the conditions?"
Seeing if life ever existed on Mars is not the only part of this exploration for Murray. He's also looing at the environment of the planet and how that changed over millions of years -- and how that happened -- as a way to hopefully answer the same questions about Earth.
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