NASA's Curiosity Finds Purple Rocks On The Red planet

NASA's Curiosity rover was at the base of Mars' Mount Sharp when it took 3 remarkable images.  On November 10, 2016 Curiosity's Mast Camera (also called 'Mastcam') captured purple colored rocks on the surface of the red planet.

According to a news article on Fox News, the purple coloration is due to the possible presence of haematite or some other iron oxide mineral.

As reported in an image feature by NASA, winds in the current season tend to keep the rocks relatively free of dust. In other seasons when the wind is less, the color of the rocks is cloaked by dust.

Since images on mars are slightly tinted by the dust present in the air, they are white balanced to resemble how they would look under daytime lighting conditions on earth. This is done to aid geologists in understanding their color correctly.

Mount Sharp is located at the center of 96 mile-wide Gale crater. After its arrival, Curiosity found evidence suggesting a past existence of microbial life in the crater.

The rover is scheduled to reach higher layers in the future. As it climbs upward from the base, the rover will study different layers of rock formations and relay the data back to Earth for further analysis.

Recent efforts by NASA and private space companies like SpaceX have indicated that Mars is being seen as a viable habitation option for humans. It is likely that future colonies will be built on the Red planet, but until then there is still one key achievement left - sending a manned mission to Mars.

The first man to Mars will start a legacy of travelers to the Red Planet. And with advanced technologies, Mars could even be terraformed to become breathable for humans. Mankind has looked to Mars with the hope that life would be found there. But as it matures in technology, the hope of making a life on Mars seems more probable.