NASA’s Mars rover captures first close-up of bizarre ‘spiderwebs’ on the Red Planet |

NASA’s Curiosity rover has captured the first-ever close-up photographs of unusual, spiderweb-like rock formations on the floor of Mars. These formations provide new clues about the planet’s historical, watery previous. The mysterious zig-zagging buildings, often called “boxwork,” have been found on the slopes of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater, the place Curiosity has been exploring since 2012. These intricate mineral-rich ridges seemingly shaped from historical groundwater exercise and resemble webs when considered from above. Scientists hope these formations might maintain very important clues about Mars’ potential to assist microbial life in the distant previous.

What are Martian “spiderwebs” which can be captured by NASA?

Despite their nickname, the spiderweb-like buildings aren’t made by Martian bugs. They are geological options often called boxwork, a sample of intersecting mineral ridges that type when groundwater seeps by means of cracks in rock, forsaking mineral deposits. Over time, wind erosion removes the surrounding softer rock, revealing the hardened web-like framework beneath.

A first in Martian exploration

While boxwork formations have been seen from orbit, this marks the first time they’ve been examined up shut on Mars. Curiosity reached the website in early June 2025 after months of navigating Mount Sharp. NASA launched the photographs and a 3D interactive video of the formations on June 23, describing them as a prime scientific precedence attributable to their distinctive construction and unexplained location.

What the rocks reveal about historical Mars

Analysis of the surrounding rocks exhibits veins of calcium sulfate, a salty mineral generally left behind by groundwater. These findings counsel the space was as soon as wealthy in liquid water, and the underground atmosphere may have been heat and salty—probably hospitable to microbial life, just like some areas on early Earth.

Not the first ‘spiders’ on Mars

The newly imaged boxwork formations shouldn’t be confused with the so-called “spiders on Mars” — darkish, radial patterns attributable to carbon dioxide ice erupting from beneath the floor. Unlike these seasonal options, boxwork is everlasting and mineral-based, shaped by means of geological—not atmospheric—processes.

Could this imply Mars as soon as supported life?

Scientists imagine these formations may assist settle the debate over whether or not Mars as soon as harbored life. The mineral composition, protected underground circumstances, and proof of flowing water all level to an atmosphere that might have supported microbial organisms. As Kirsten Siebach, a Curiosity mission scientist, put it, “Early Earth microbes could have survived in a similar environment.”

What’s subsequent for Curiosity?

Curiosity will proceed learning this patch of boxwork on Mount Sharp, drilling samples and conducting in-depth chemical evaluation. Researchers hope these distinctive buildings won’t solely reveal extra about Mars’ local weather historical past but in addition assist information future missions in the seek for indicators of life beneath the Martian floor.