Curiosity Finds a Book-Like Rock

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took this close-up view of a rock nicknamed “Terra Firme” that looks like the open pages of a book on April 15, 2023, the 3,800th Martian day, or sol, of the mission using the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the end of its robotic arm. The rock is about an inch across (2.5 centimeters).

Figure A shows the same image in an anaglyph that can be viewed with red-blue 3D glasses.

Rocks with unusual shapes are common on Mars, and often were formed by water seeping through cracks in a rock in the ancient past, bringing harder minerals along with them. After eons of being sand-blasted by the wind, softer rock is carved away and the harder materials are all that’s left.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the Curiosity mission. Curiosity took the selfie using a camera called the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the end of its robotic arm. MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.

For more about Curiosity, visit: mars.nasa.gov/msl.