The Blue Dirt of Mars

Dr. Santos took Quinyang and me out to an area of Jerezo Crater where the big robotic digger had texted us that it had found blue-tinted soil.

Oh, I forgot, it's not really called "soil" on Mars. Soil is a complex mixture of organic matter and mineral matter capable of growing plants.

Mars actually has "regolith." This is an inorganic layer that lies like a blanket over rocks.

She was very excited as she started carefully digging. "This area has some copper metal in the regolith."

I asked, "But what made the copper turn blue? I thought copper turned green." I thought about the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. It was greenish, and it was made from copper.

Quinyang had the answer, and now she sounded excited too. "On Earth, one sign of microbial life is ammonia. When ammonia is mixed with copper it creates a blue-colored compound called ammine."

"You mean there are microbes in the soil, uh, regolith?" I was getting excited now.

"Maybe," Dr. Santos said. "I hope so."

I stepped back and took a photo of her and Quinyang. Maybe we were making history!

What do you think about life on Mars? Tell me about it at

RamoneRocketeer -at- gmail -dot- com