Curiosity Finds Coral-Shaped Rocks on Mars

On July 24, 2025, the 4,608th Martian day, or Sol, of the mission, NASA’s Curiosity rover imaged wind-eroded rocks shaped like a piece of coral in the Gale crater on Mars.

One of the wind-eroded rocks was captured by Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), a camera on the end of its robotic arm.

“Nicknamed Paposo, the rock was about 5 cm (2 inches) from MAHLI when this image was taken,” members of the Curiosity team wrote in a statement.

On the same day, Curiosity used its Remote Micro Imager, part of its ChemCam instrument, to view another coral-shaped rock.

This image of a wind-eroded rock was taken by Curiosity’s Remote Micro Imager on July 24, 2025. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

“Curiosity has found many small features like these, which formed billions of years ago when liquid water still existed on Mars” the researchers said.

“Water carried dissolved minerals into rock cracks and later dried, leaving the hardened minerals behind.”

“Eons of sandblasting by the wind wore away the surrounding rock, producing unique shapes.”

“This common process is seen extensively on Earth and has produced fantastic shapes on Mars, as well, including a flower-shaped rock.”

Curiosity rover took this selfie on October 11, 2019. The rover drilled twice in this location, nicknamed Glen Etive. Just left of the rover are the two drill holes, called Glen Etive 1 (right) and Glen Etive 2 (left). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

Launched November 26, 2011, Curiosity is the fourth rover the United States has sent to Mars.

Led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the mission involves almost 500 scientists from the United States and other countries.

Curiosity explores the 154-km- (96-mile) wide Gale crater and acquires rock, soil, and air samples for onboard analysis.

The car-size rover is about as tall as a basketball player and uses a 2.1-m- (7-foot) long arm to place tools close to rocks selected for study.