Curiosity Finds Coral Like Rocks on Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover photographs wind shaped rocks in Gale Crater that resemble coral from Earth.

Curiosity Finds Coral Like Rocks on Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover has photographed two wind carved rocks inside Gale Crater, each about an inch across, that resemble coral in form but are not alive. The team nicknamed one rock Paposo and used MAHLI, the Mars Hand Lens Imager, to study its branching structures up close.

NASA explains the rocks formed billions of years ago when liquid water carried minerals into rock cracks and later dried, leaving hardened minerals behind. Ongoing analysis suggests wind erosion created the intricate shapes while the rover continues its long trek across Gale Crater. It landed in 2012 and now uses software upgrades that let it multitask and switch off after daily tasks.

These coral like rocks show how Mars preserves pages from its watery past without shouting about them. The shapes offer a reminder that life on Mars would have left traces in minerals rather than in living tissue.

The note about rover software upgrades signals a longer mission horizon. It shows NASA aims to extract value from every mile of travel and every gram of data as the hardware ages.

Highlights

The Red Planet still has many lessons left to learn.