NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Discovers Field of Honeycomb Textures

5 to 3 inches (4 to 8 centimeters) across. The mission has spotted small patches of these geometric shapes several times before, but nothing at the scale discovered in Valle Grande. In a 360-degree panorama that the rover captured on June 19 and 20, the 4,930th and 4,931st Martian days, or sols, of the mission, the polygonal shapes spread in all directions for as far as the rover can see.

They even wrap around the sides of a nearby butte nicknamed “Miraflores,” which stands 20 feet (6 meters) tall and is topped with a thick cap of sand. “We’ve seen a lot of fascinating landscapes through Curiosity’s eyes, but this sea of polygons took our breath away,” said the mission’s project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. ” A close-up of the polygon fractures discovered by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover highlights their honeycomb-like textures NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Some of the polygons that the mission has spotted in the past clearly formed as mud cracks , though a variety of processes can contribute to their honeycomb textures, including cycles of warm and cold temperatures or compression that squeezed water out of the sediment when the surface was buried.

These newly discovered polygons are among the many surprises Curiosity has trundled across since landing on Mars 14 years ago, on Aug. 5, 2012. Besides sulfur crystals , shiny meteorites , and other interesting geologic features , the rover has made major discoveries about the ancient Martian environment — most importantly, that it had the water, chemistry, and nutrients to support microbial life.

Billions of years ago, lakes and streams dappled the lower foothills of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that Curiosity has been ascending since 2014. The rover has previously uncovered chemistry left over from Mars’ watery history, including carbon-based molecules believed to be precursors to RNA and DNA , two nucleic acids that carry genetic information. Scientists have no way of knowing whether these organic molecules were created by biologic or geologic processes — either path is possible — but their discovery reconfirmed that ancient Mars had the right chemistry to support life.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this sand-capped butte, nicknamed “Miraflores,” estimated to be about 20 feet (6 meters) tall, on June 11, 2026. The surrounding area includes an expanse of terrain covered in surface features called polygons. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, JPL built Curiosity and leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of the agency’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.

gov/mission/msl-curiosity News Media Contacts Andrew Good Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. gov 2026-051 Share Details Last Updated Jul 29, 2026 Related Terms Curiosity (Rover) Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mars Mars Exploration Program Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) Explore More 5 min read NASA’s MAVEN Illuminates New Understanding of Auroras at Mars NASA MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission scientists have uncovered a key puzzle piece… Article 7 days ago 5 min read NASA’s Juno Takes Temperature of Jupiter’s Fiery Moon Io Article 1 week ago 5 min read US-India Satellite Delivers Data, Reveals ‘Hummingbird’ in Antarctica Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Mars Science Laboratory: Curiosity Rover Part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, at the time of launch, Curiosity was the largest and most capable rover… Curiosity Science Highlights Curiosity Finds Evidence of Persistent Liquid Water in the Past Just after landing, Curiosity found smooth, rounded pebbles that likely… Mars Exploration Mars is the only planet we know of inhabited entirely by robots. Learn more about the Mars Missions.