Curiosity Finds 20-Foot-Butte Field of Martian Polygons, Deepening Ancient Water Clues
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 9
Curiosity Finds 20-Foot-Butte Field of Martian Polygons, Deepening Ancient Water Clues
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 9
Summary
A June 19-20 panorama from Curiosity shows polygonal fractures carpeting Valle Grande in every visible direction, the largest such field the rover has seen on Mars.
NASA has not pinned down the cause, weighing dried mud cracks, repeated warm-cold cycles, and burial-driven compression that may have squeezed water from sediment.
Miraflores—a nearby butte about 20 feet tall—also sits amid the same pattern, giving scientists more shapes and chemistry to analyze for signs of Mars' past environment.
The find adds to Curiosity's record since its 2012 landing and supports its core mission of testing whether ancient Mars once had the water, chemistry and nutrients microbes would need.
That work also feeds Earth applications, as technologies refined for Curiosity—autonomous navigation, rugged robotics, compact sensors and advanced imaging—aid inspection, disaster response and remote monitoring.