News Planetary Science

Check out some of the weird rocks that have turned up on Mars

In the past year alone, two rovers have found several rocks unlike anything seen on Mars before

A close-up view of reddish dirt, with yellow crystals emerging from broken rocks in the middle

These yellow crystals on Mars were exposed after the Curiosity rover drove over a rock in May 2024, breaking it open. The crystals are made of pure elemental sulfur, something that has never been seen on the Red Planet before. The odd rock is one of a handful discovered on Mars in just the past year.

JPL-Caltech/NASA, MSSS

By Lisa Grossman

As the Mars rover Perseverance crested the top of Witch Hazel Hill, its operators back on Earth expected amazing things.