---
title: "NASA Rover Finds Ancient Stone Arch on Martian Surface"
description: "NASA's Curiosity rover has found something awesome on the surface of Mars: a small, naturally-formed stone arch in Gale Crater."
date: "2021-08-03"
modified: "2021-08-03"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-rover-stone-arch-mars"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "curiosity"
  - "mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Rover Finds Ancient Stone Arch on Martian Surface

![NASA's Curiosity rover has found something awesome on the surface of Mars: a small, naturally-formed stone arch in Gale Crater.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/nasa-rover-stone-arch-mars.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Arch Nemesis

NASA's Curiosity rover has found something on the surface of Mars which, in scientific language, can only be described as "absolutely awesome": a small, naturally-formed stone arch in Gale Crater.

You can spot the arch in [ NASA's official photo repository](<https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission-updates/9001/sols-3192-3193-whimsical-rock-textures/>), as *CNET* reports, but NASA-JPL engineer Kevin M. Gill stitched the images together for an even better glimpse of the strange formation.

"I'll leave it up to the scientists to explain what the hell is going on here," he quipped.

https://twitter.com/kevinmgill/status/1420439081444593665

## Rock On

Is there any chance the arch is evidence of an ancient Martian civilization?

Almost certainly not. The landscape back on Earth is [dotted with arches that formed naturally](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_arch>), so there's no reason to think that Mars would be any different.

Any alien architects behind NASA's latest find would also have to be quite diminutive; as *CNET* points out, the entire field of view is only about half a foot, meaning that the arch is quite tiny.

**READ MORE:** [NASA rover spots 'whimsical' rock arch on Mars that's defying wind, dust](<https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-mars-rover-spots-whimsical-rock-arch-defying-wind-and-dust/>) \[*CNET*\]

**More on Mars:** [Elon Musk Reportedly Demanded to Be Made CEO of Apple](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-demanded-ceo-apple>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)