Click for next articleA close-up of the polygon fractures discovered by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover highlights their honeycomb-like textures. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)NASA's Curiosity Mars rover spotted surprising shapes in the Red Planet soil while exploring a large valley. A panorama taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover showing a large field of hexagonal shapes in the Martian soil. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this sand-capped butte, nicknamed "Miraflores," estimated to be about 20 feet (6 meters) tall, on June 11, 2026. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)While mission scientists have theories about how these structures form, it ultimately remains a mystery how they formed.