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Published online 6 August 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.1016
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Perchlorate found on Mars
Unexpected chemical discovery intrigues mission scientists.
In their first two tastes of Martian soil, scientists with NASA's Phoenix mission have discovered an oxidizer — a class of chemical compounds normally responsible for destroying organic molecules.
But the oxidizer, called perchlorate, might not be so bad for life.
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