NASA’s Curiosity rover has spotted a coral shaped rock in Gale Crater, offering new insight into the Red Planet’s ancient watery past. The find, made on July 24, 2025, during the rover’s 4,609th Martian day or sol, adds to growing evidence that Mars once had conditions that could have supported microbial life.
The image was taken using Curiosity’s Remote Micro Imager, part of its ChemCam instrument. The small light coloured rock, measuring about 2.5 centimetres wide, features intricate branching patterns resembling coral. According to researchers, such formations occur when liquid water carries minerals into small rock fractures. Once the water evaporates, minerals remain, forming veins. Over billions of years, wind laden with sand erodes the surrounding material, leaving behind these delicate, branch like shapes.
While the rock’s appearance is similar to coral, scientists emphasise that it is a pseudofossil. The structure is purely mineral in origin, created through geological processes that are common in Earth’s deserts. This discovery is another reminder that early Mars had a wetter climate, which could have provided a suitable environment for simple life forms.
Curiosity has documented several similar features during its exploration of Gale Crater, a large meteor impact site located between the planet’s cratered southern highlands and smoother northern plains. Since its landing in 2012, the rover’s mission has been to investigate whether Mars was ever habitable.
The recent image of rock was released in early August by the mission team, who continue to study Gale Crater’s surface for further signs of ancient water activity. Each new find helps scientists piece together Mars’s history and better understand its potential to host life in the distant past.
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