Curiosity rover zooms-in on the Martian dunes for the first time

The Curiosity rover is now investigating at the most exciting destination- the Martian sand dune. So far, it has been sending us distant images of the place while on its excursion up a layered mountain. But today, the rover revealed more detailed and enlarged images of the sand dunes on Mars.

The photos were clicked as a part of an up-close investigation of the “Bagnold Dunes”, which constitute the lower portion of Mountain Sharp inside the Gale crater. The image released by NASA today is a composite of a collection of photos clicked by the rover's Mast Camera on November 27. The same instrument captured the sand dunes from a distance that NASA revealed in August this year.

The study of Martian dunes would continue for a longer period to explore and identify what lies on the sides of Mount Sharp. More samples would be scraped and filtered for analysis using the rover's onboard superlab equipment. This would help scientists gather information about how much the area has changed over time.

A close-up into the Bagnold Dunes in Mount Sharp. Source: NASA

Curiosity is using its wheel along with its science payload to investigate these sands that have formed the ancient dunes on Mars. According to satellite observations, the crests of Mars' dunes get displaced by about three feet annually.

It would be interesting to learn how the craters are formed on the Martian surface. There was a revelation earlier this year that stated that the Gale Crater had once contained lakes which existed for about 10,000 years.