NASA’s Curiosity rover found a ‘sea of polygons’ on Mars
The latest discovery from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is a field of honeycomb-shaped polygons covering a Martian valley called Valle Grande. As Gizmodo reports, Curiosity has snapped pictures of the unusual terrain texture before, called polygonal fractures, each about 1.5 to 3 inches wide, but NASA says it's previously only found them in small patches, "nothing on the scale discovered in Valle Grande." Curiosity captured a 360-degree panorama of the "sea of polygons" on June 19th and 20th (Martian sols 4,930 and 4,931) that shows the texture spreading out in all directions.
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NASA's Curiosity rover took a 360‑degree view of a large area on Mars called Valle Grande. The view shows a “sea of polygons” – honeycomb‑shaped cracks in the ground. Each polygon is about 1.5 to 3 inches (4 to 8 cm) wide. Before, Curiosity had only seen such cracks in small patches, not across a whole valley.
Why it matters
These cracks suggest that Mars went through repeated wet and dry periods long ago. Studying them helps scientists learn about the planet’s ancient climate and whether it could have supported life.
- What did Curiosity photograph in Valle Grande?
- A large field of honeycomb‑shaped polygonal cracks on the Martian surface.
- How big are the polygons?
- Each one is about 1.5 to 3 inches (4 to 8 cm) wide.
- Why are these polygons important?
- They indicate ancient wet‑dry cycles that tell us about Mars’ past climate.
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NASA’s Curiosity rover found a ‘sea of polygons’ on Mars
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