Aliens are not responsible for terraforming Mars, but a NASA rover recently made an intriguing discovery. One of NASA’s rovers identified a Martian rock with an unusual texture that might catch the eye of someone fond of cauliflower.
The Curiosity rover, a mobile laboratory approximately the size of a Mini Cooper, was navigating the rugged Martian terrain in March when its camera captured images of Martian rocks unlike any previously encountered. Scientists leading the rover’s mission stated they had never seen such formations on Mars. The anthropomorphic Curiosity account humorously reacted on X, questioning the identity of these lumpy rocks.
Meanwhile, Perseverance, operating about 2,300 miles away on a different part of the planet, also discovered a set of unusual rocks, drawing comparisons to the "Martian blueberries" previously found by the Opportunity rover in 2004.
Curiosity, which has traveled a remarkable distance since its mission launch in 2011, is currently heading toward an unexplored area within Gale Crater known as a "boxwork" region, believed to have formed with the assistance of warm groundwater eons ago.
At the same time, Curiosity has once again taken the spotlight with a significant scientific discovery. It detected the largest organic molecules yet found on Mars within one of its rock samples. These molecules, which consist of long chains of carbon atoms and could be fragments of fatty acids, suggest that the chemical building blocks for life may have advanced further on Mars than previously thought. This finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is not evidence of life but supports the possibility of more complex organic molecules existing on Mars. This has encouraged scientists to consider the likelihood of discovering such evidence.
To underscore its continued scientific contributions, the mission team gave official names to Curiosity’s recent rock discoveries—Manzana Creek and Palo Comado—and documented them with photographs. According to the mission journal, the rock on the left in the image displays jagged, vertical surfaces with a notably rough texture.
Perseverance’s discovery near the rim of Jezero Crater is a rock covered in millimeter-sized beads, some with tiny pinholes, which is reminiscent of a cluster of miniature peas. This bumpy rock, officially named St. Pauls Bay, has also intrigued researchers.
Abigail Fraeman, Curiosity’s deputy project scientist, explained that the rocks’ textures were formed by the effects of wind and water over time. Alex Jones, a researcher on the Mars 2020 mission team, expressed curiosity about the geological processes that could produce such strange formations in a blog post.
Spherical features on rocks often form as mineral-rich water flows through them over time. However, these features can also result from volcanic eruptions or meteorite impacts, where molten rock droplets are thrown into the air and solidify as they cool.
NASA scientists plan to continue analyzing these rock formations using the available rover tools, reinforcing the desire to return samples to Earth for more detailed studies. NASA is currently exploring alternative approaches to its Mars Sample Return mission, which aims to bring home rock, dust, and air samples collected by the Perseverance rover. Over the next year, NASA will work on engineering plans for new methods considered to be less complex and costly.
