Overview
- NASA's Curiosity rover imaged a cluster of broad, shallow pits in the Valle Grande on Mount Sharp during its recent traverse, a development reported Thursday and Friday.
- Mission scientists say the pits lack the hard pebbles or clear impact shapes that normally explain small bedrock depressions on Earth and Mars.
- Curiosity was commanded to use the Mars Hand Lens Imager for close-up photos and Mastcam for overlapping shots so teams can build three-dimensional models of the pits' shape and depth.
- The rover also sampled nearby sedimentary layers that show abrupt changes in toughness and erosion behavior, which could record rapid shifts in the ancient environment.
- Researchers say the pits' origin remains unresolved and that full interpretation will require detailed 3D mapping, chemical analysis, and time to test hypotheses about unusual rock properties or novel erosion processes.