Mars Rover Finds Scales-Like Surface Near Small Crater
The mars rover Curiosity spent the past week driving toward a small crater about 10 meters, or 32 feet, across, as the mission team weighed whether the site could expose material from depth. The crater, informally named Antofagasta on Earth planning date Friday, April 10, 2026, is drawing attention because it may be relatively young and could offer a closer look at rocks that were recently exposed to the Martian surface.
Mission team member Abigail Fraeman, deputy project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said the crater could help answer whether there is material around the rim that was excavated from below the surface and whether that material is accessible for Curiosity’s drill. She said there are still several conditions that must be checked, including whether the crater is large enough, whether it is truly young, and whether the team can identify a suitable rock for drilling.
While the team moved toward Antofagasta, the mars rover also crossed rocks marked by thousands of honeycomb-shaped polygons that stretched across the ground for meters. The mission team said those textures had been seen before, but not in such dramatic abundance, and that the rover continued gathering images and chemical data to sort through different ideas for how the honeycomb patterns formed.
Mars Rover Curiosity closes in on Antofagasta
Curiosity is approaching the crater after a week of driving and observations. The mission team said the crater could matter because craters can act like nature’s drill, exposing material that would otherwise stay buried beneath the surface.
From orbit, Antofagasta appears to be relatively young on a Martian geologic scale, with an estimated age of less than 50 million years. That is why the team is interested in whether material around it may have only recently been exposed to Mars’ surface radiation, which can break down organic molecules over time.
Polygon patterns and the mars rover data stream
The mars rover spent the journey collecting images and chemistry measurements while also monitoring the Martian environment. The team carried out dust-devil searches and horizon imaging as Mars grows dustier ahead of the warm summer months.
Fraeman said the team is expecting data to arrive on Earth by Tuesday morning. If the next set of observations goes well, Curiosity will be positioned on the crater’s edge and send images that will show the crater rim and interior from the ground for the first time.
What the team is looking for next
The central question is whether the crater exposes rock from depth that could preserve clues about complex chemistry. The team has already found hardy organic molecules that survived for billions of years, and Antofagasta offers a chance to look for something even more revealing if the site meets the mission’s drilling requirements.
Fraeman said the coming close-up look should help the team decide what to do next. For now, the mars rover is still in motion, still imaging, and still testing whether Antofagasta is the right place to stop.
