Curiosity Captures Close-Up of Sulfur Crystals

These sulfur crystals were found inside a rock after NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover happened to drive over it and crush it on May 30, 2024, the 4,200th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This image was captured by Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), a camera on the end of its robotic arm, on June 4, 2024, the 4,205th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

This rock was nicknamed “Convict Lake” after a location in California’s Sierra Nevada. Curiosity’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) found that the crystalline material is elemental sulfur.

Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.

For more about Curiosity, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity.