Mars Curiosity Rover Reaches Martian Sand Dunes, Beaming Back New Images

First Posted: Dec 14, 2015 08:58 AM EST
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NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has finally reached some interesting sand dunes on the Red Planet. It has now begun an up-close investigation of the sand dunes, which reach up to two stories tall.

Since August 2012, the rover has been working on Mars, trekking across the Red Planet and sending data back to scientists on Earth. It reached the base of Mount Sharp in 2014 after fruitfully investigating outcrops closer to its landing site and then trekking to the mountain. The main mission objective is now to examine successively higher layers of Mount Sharp.

The dunes that Curiosity is currently studying are part of "Bagnold Dunes." This is a band of dunes along the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater. Observations of this dune field from orbit show that edges of individual dunes move as much as three feet per Earth year.

The Curiosity rover will actually be conducting investigations in this region. This will include scooping a sample of the dune material for analysis with its onboard laboratory.

The new finds may reveal a bit more about Mars, which may aid in future missions to the Red Planet. In fact, the information that Curiosity collects now may eventually help us land a manned mission on Mars.

Want to learn more about the Curiosity mission? Visit NASA's website.

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