Curiosity Sees Vast Honeycomb Polygons Wrapping a Martian Valley Grande
NASA's Curiosity rover captured a 360-degree panorama of Valle Grande on Mars, revealing a vast field of honeycomb-textured polygonal rocks that stretch to the horizon and even wrap around a nearby 6-meter-tall butte named Miraflores. Scientists will study the shapes and their chemistry for clues about their formation, with ideas ranging from ancient mud cracks to freeze-thaw cycles or compression-driven water expulsion. This finding adds to Curiosity's long-running work exploring Mars' watery past near Mount Sharp, including detections of organic molecules earlier in the mission.
