Curiosity captures extensive polygonal terrain on Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover has captured a striking panorama of a vast field of honeycomb-like geological features on Mars, offering scientists a new window into the planet's ancient, watery past. The images, taken on June 19 and 20, 2026, reveal polygonal fractures spread across a region called Valle Grande within Gale Crater on an unprecedented scale.

The 360-degree view shows the geometric patterns, each measuring about 1.5 to 3 inches across, extending in all directions as far as the rover can see. The fractures even wrap around the base of a nearby 20-foot-tall butte that mission planners have nicknamed Miraflores. Curiosity photographed that solitary landform separately on June 11, revealing a flat top capped with dark sand and faces carved by wind erosion.

Project scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said the discovery was breathtaking, noting that the team measured the shapes and chemistry of the polygons carefully in hopes of determining how they formed. While similar smaller patches have been seen before, scientists have never observed them in such abundance in one location.

Researchers believe the most likely explanation is that the patterns are...