Curiosity Rover Spots 'Sea of Polygons' on Mars

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has captured a 360-degree panorama revealing an unprecedented expanse of polygonal rock formations on the Red Planet. The images, taken on June 19 and 20, 2026 (the 4,930th and 4,931st sols of the mission), show honeycomb-like fractures stretching across the surface of 'Valle Grande' as far as the rover can see. The polygons even extend around a 20-foot-tall butte nicknamed 'Miraflores.' Scientists have never observed so many of these features in one location and are uncertain about their formation. Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity mission project scientist from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, stated, 'We've seen a lot of fascinating landscapes through Curiosity's eyes, but this sea of polygons took our breath away.' Possible explanations include cycles of warm and cold temperatures affecting water expulsion from buried sediment. The rover has been climbing Mount Sharp for about 12 years, a three-mile-tall mountain that once hosted lakes and streams billions of years ago. Curiosity's top speed is 0.1 miles per hour. Since landing on August 5, 2012, the rover has discovered sulfur crystals, meteorites, and evidence that ancient Mars had water, chemistry, and nutrients to support microbial life. Carbon-based molecules, precursors to RNA and DNA, have been found, though their biological or geological origin remains unknown.