Curiosity Finds Coral-Shaped Rocks on Mars
On July 24, 2025, the 4,608th Martian day, or soil, of the mission, the rocks of Curiosity Rover of NASA imagined the wind in the shape of a coral piece in the Gale Crater on Mars.
This image of Paposo Rock was taken by the Mahli instrument in Curiosity on July 24, 2025. Image credit: NASA / JPL-CALTECH / MSSS.
One of the rocks eroded by the wind was captured by the imagery of the Mars Mars of Curiosit (Mahli), a camera at the end of its robotic arm.
“Nicknamed Paposo, the rock was around 5 cm (2 inches) from Mahli when this image was taken,” the members of the Curiosity team wrote in a press release.
The same day, Curiosity used its remote micro-imageur, part of its Chemcam instrument, to see another rock in the shape of a coral.
This image of a rock eroded by the wind was taken by the distant micro-imageur of Curiosity on July 24, 2025. Image credit: NASA / JPL-CALTECH / MSSS.
“Curiosity has found many small characteristics like these, which formed billions of years ago when liquid water still existed on Mars,” said the researchers.
“The water was carrying minerals dissolved in rock cracks and dried later, leaving the minerals hardened behind.”
“Sands of sand by the wind have exhausted the surrounding rock, producing unique forms.”
“This common process is widely seen on earth and has also produced fantastic forms on Mars, including a flower -shaped rock.”
Curiosity Rover took this selfie on October 11, 2019. The rover pierced twice there, nicknamed Glen Etive. Just to the left of the rover are the two drilling holes, called Glen Etive 1 (right) and Glen Etive 2 (left). Image credit: NASA / JPL-CALTECH / MSSS.
Launched on November 26, 2011, Curiosity is the fourth rover that the United States sent to Mars.
Directed by the NASA jet propulsion laboratory, the mission involves nearly 500 scientists from the United States and other countries.
Curiosity explores the scab crater 154 km wide (96 miles) and acquired samples of rocks, floors and air for on -board analysis.
The rover the size of a car is about as large as a basketball player and uses a long arm of 2.1 m at 7 feet (7 feet) to place tools close to the rocks selected for the study.
