Curiosity NavigationCuriosity HomeMission OverviewWhere is Curiosity?Mission UpdatesScienceOverviewInstrumentsHighlightsExploration GoalsNews and FeaturesMultimediaCuriosity Raw ImagesImagesVideosAudioMosaicsMore ResourcesMars MissionsMars Perseverance RoverMars Curiosity RoverMars Reconnaissance OrbiterMars OdysseyMore Mars MissionsMars Home2 min readCuriosity Blog, Sols 4934-4940: In the Land of the PolygonsNASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image of polygonal structures using its Mast Camera (Mastcam) on June 21, 2026 — Sol 4932, or Martian day 4,932 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 14:57:55 UTC.NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSWritten by William Farrand, Senior Research Scientist, Space Science InstituteEarth planning date: Friday, June 26, 2026There were two planning cycles over this span of sols. The Monday planning took place with Curiosity situated within a unit that from orbital imagery appeared light-toned, and from earlier rover positions appeared smooth. Reaching this unit, the rover team was surprised to see the unit covered with polygonal structures like the top of a giant Martian honeycomb. Driving further into the unit, the polygonal ridges were more eroded. Littered about this unit are pebble to cobble-sized dark-toned rocks. A still-to-be-resolved question is whether these are bits of Mars that “floated” down from higher in the stratigraphy, were ejected from distant impacts outside of Gale crater, or are meteorites from beyond Mars altogether. Examination of some previous dark “float” rocks indicated the presence of nickel, common in meteorites but less so in Martian rocks, but are all of the dark-toned pebbles and cobbles meteorites? Further investigations should help in answering this question.Monday’s four-sol plan had APXS and MAHLI investigations looking at the ridges and centers of the polygons. The plan also included ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) views of the “Miraflores” small knob and of the “Cordillera” mesa. Similar to the contact science activities, ChemCam LIBS measurements were focused on the polygons, with two measurements on different ridges and one on a polygon center. A ChemCam passive reflectance measurement of one of the aforementioned dark cobbles was also carried out. Environmental activities included a Navcam dust-devil search and atmospheric opacity (“tau”) measurements.After driving further towards the upper boundary of the light-toned, polygon-covered unit, the three-sol Friday plan included APXS and MAHLI measurements of another polygon ridge and one of the dark-toned cobbles, “Cortadera.” ChemCam LIBS was also targeted on “Cortadera” and on a polygon ridge. ChemCam RMI was targeted on the top and base of the “Cordillera” mesa. Mastcam mosaics were planned of “Cordillera,” nearby troughs, part of the nearby “Valle Grande” channel, and documentation of LIBS targets and the Mastcam calibration target.In the coming week, Curiosity will cross over into another band of materials which appear darker-toned in orbital images and rougher-textured, as viewed currently by the rover.Want to read more posts from the Curiosity team?Visit Mission Updates Want to learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments?Visit the Science Instruments page NASA’s Curiosity rover at the base of Mount SharpNASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSShareDetailsLast UpdatedJul 01, 2026Related TermsBlogsExplore More4 min readCuriosity Blog, Sols 4927–4933: Let’s Drive to That Smooth AreaArticle1 week ago3 min readCuriosity Blog, Sols 4920-4926: Surveying the BandsArticle2 weeks ago3 min readCuriosity Blog: Sols 4913-4919: Planetary Explorers, Freewheeling to the Yardang Unit!Article3 weeks agoKeep ExploringDiscover More Topics From NASAMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…All Mars ResourcesExplore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,…Rover BasicsEach robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…Mars Exploration: Science GoalsThe key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…