NASA’s Curiosity rover has made a remarkable discovery on Mars, uncovering fresh evidence that liquid water may have persisted on the Red Planet far longer than previously believed. While exploring the slopes of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater, Curiosity drilled into a unique region marked by intricate, crisscrossing mineral formations known as “boxwork” ridges.

Within this area, scientists found thin, white calcium sulfate veins embedded in the rock — a mineral known to form when groundwater flows through cracks and fractures. Such veins had largely disappeared as Curiosity ascended Mount Sharp, making their unexpected reappearance at higher elevations a significant finding. According to mission scientists, this suggests that groundwater activity lasted much longer and reached higher altitudes than earlier estimates indicated.

In addition to the mineral veins, Curiosity captured images of vast spiderweb-like ridge patterns, some stretching for nearly 12 miles, further hinting at a long history of groundwater shaping the Martian landscape. Combined with previous discoveries of ripple-like rock formations and carbonate minerals, these findings suggest Mars once hosted a more complex, wetter environment than once thought.

The discovery reignites hope of uncovering signs of ancient life and deepens our understanding of Mars’s changing climate and geological history.