NASA’s Curiosity rover is preparing for a new phase of exploration on Mars, targeting a fascinating patch of spiderweb-like surface features. These structures, called “boxwork deposits,” cover an area of 10 to 20 kilometers and are thought to hold clues to the Red Planet’s ancient water systems, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) reports. Holds clues. The probe is expected to provide important insights into Mars’ ability to support life in its distant past.
Insights from Boxwork Features
The rover recently completed exploration of Geddes Vallis, a channel on the slopes of Mount Sharp within Gale Crater, where it spent the last year. JPL revealed that the area has provided important findings, including the discovery of pure sulfur crystals and wave-like rock formations that suggest an ancient lake once existed there. A 360-degree panoramic image taken by the rover marked the completion of this phase of the mission.
Boxwork formations form when mineral-rich water fills cracks in rocks, hardens and then erodes, Live Science reports. Curiosity mission scientist Kirsten Seebach of Rice University explained in the JPL statement that these formations “consist of minerals crystallized underground where salty liquid water once flowed.” It highlights how such conditions would have supported microbial life on early Earth, making the discovery an important step in the study of the history of Mars.
On Earth, similar features are seen in caves, including the caves of Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. However, Mars’ boxwork structures are much larger, stretch for miles, and were shaped by ancient mineral-rich lakes and oceans rather than groundwater seepage, the report suggests.
mission timeline
Curiosity, which landed on Mars in 2012, has traveled more than 33 kilometers and missed its initial mission deadline by more than a decade. Its exploration of the Boxwork region is scheduled to begin in early 2025, with researchers aiming to uncover evidence of Mars’ watery past and assess the potential for life on the planet.
