(CNN) — This may be the closest we get to finding a flower in Mars.
During its investigation of Martian rocks in Gale Crater, the Curiosity rover stumbled upon a bit of a surprise. The rock artifact, which resembles a piece of coral or a flower, is smaller than a penny.
The Martian “flower” and the spherical pieces next to it were probably “manufactured in the ancient past, when minerals carried by water cemented the rock”, according to NASA.
The Curiosity rover discovered this rock, smaller than a dime, that resembles a flower or piece of coral inside Gale Crater on Mars on February 24. The small fragments in this photo were created billions of years ago when minerals carried by water cemented the rock.
Curiosity took an image of the small rocky array on February 24 using the Mars Hand Lens Imager, a camera on the end of its robotic arm.
The find is similar to other small features Curiosity has detected in the past, all of which were formed “when mineralized fluids traveled through conduits in the rock,” according to the agency. Previously, the Opportunity rover had also detected martian “blueberries”small mineral spherules indicative of a formerly watery soil on the Red Planet.
Every image Curiosity collects and shares of these features is helping researchers piece together the timeline of the presence of water in the crater.
A decade of exploration
Later this year, Curiosity will celebrate an important milestone: the 10th Martian anniversary. Curiosity landed on the red planet on August 5, 2012. It has been exploring the crater and Mount Sharp, located in its center, for a decade.
The mission was designed to determine if Mars was ever habitable for microbial life. Early on, the rover discovered the chemical and mineral evidence that affirmed the planet’s habitability at some point in its distant past. Since then, Curiosity has been searching the geologic record to understand when Mars might have been best suited to support life.
Curiosity continues to weave through rocks and sharp ridges, collecting rock and soil samples for analysis.
The car-sized rover paved the way for the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter, which are currently exploring Jezero Crater, 3,700 kilometers away, and will eventually return the first Martian samples to Earth through future missions. The combined efforts of these rovers might help answer the ultimate question of whether life ever existed on Mars.
