• Mars Rover Curiosity Views Spectacular Layered Rock Formations

    From baalke@1:2320/100 to sci.space.news on Wed Sep 21 23:08:50 2016
    From Newsgroup: sci.space.news


    http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6618

    Mars Rover Views Spectacular Layered Rock Formations
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    September 9, 2016

    The layered geologic past of Mars is revealed in stunning detail in new
    color images returned by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, which is currently exploring the "Murray Buttes" region of lower Mount Sharp. The new images arguably rival photos taken in U.S. National Parks.

    Curiosity took the images with its Mast Camera (Mastcam) on Sept. 8. The
    rover team plans to assemble several large, color mosaics from the multitude of images taken at this location in the near future.

    "Curiosity's science team has been just thrilled to go on this road trip through a bit of the American desert Southwest on Mars," said Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

    The Martian buttes and mesas rising above the surface are eroded remnants
    of ancient sandstone that originated when winds deposited sand after lower Mount Sharp had formed.

    "Studying these buttes up close has given us a better understanding of
    ancient sand dunes that formed and were buried, chemically changed by groundwater, exhumed and eroded to form the landscape that we see today," Vasavada said.

    The new images represent Curiosity's last stop in the Murray Buttes, where
    the rover has been driving for just over one month. As of this week, Curiosity has exited these buttes toward the south, driving up to the base of the
    final butte on its way out. In this location, the rover began its latest drilling campaign (on Sept. 9). After this drilling is completed, Curiosity will continue farther south and higher up Mount Sharp, leaving behind
    these spectacular formations.

    Curiosity landed near Mount Sharp in 2012. It reached the base of the
    mountain in 2014 after successfully finding evidence on the surrounding
    plains that ancient Martian lakes offered conditions that would have been favorable for microbes if Mars has ever hosted life. Rock layers forming
    the base of Mount Sharp accumulated as sediment within ancient lakes billions of years ago.

    On Mount Sharp, Curiosity is investigating how and when the habitable
    ancient conditions known from the mission's earlier findings evolved into conditions drier and less favorable for life.

    For more information about Curiosity, visit:

    http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl

    News Media Contact
    Preston Dyches
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
    818-354-7013
    preston.dyches@jpl.nasa.gov

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