NASA's Curiosity Rover Images Planned Drill Target Nazca

NASA’s Curiosity rover captured a close-up of Nazca, its next intended drilling target, on October 18, 2026. The image shows several roughly disk-shaped features that researchers describe as possible crystal formations.

Key details

• Curiosity took the image with its Mars Hand Lens Imager, known as MAHLI.
• The rover team plans to examine the surface composition before drilling, then compare it with material from below the surface.
• Researchers propose that the disk-and-needle textures may reflect crystal growth and could offer clues about past temperatures, salts, and fluids.

Curiosity photographed Nazca with its Mars Hand Lens Imager on October 18, 2026.

Why it matters

Comparing surface material with a later sample from below could help researchers assess how the composition changes with depth. Mineral replacement can preserve an earlier mineral’s shape while changing its composition, a structure known as a pseudomorph.