Mars Rover Views Spectacular Layered Rock Formations
Curiosity got close to this outcrop on Sept. 9, 2016, which displays finely layered rocks.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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:
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Last Updated: Sept. 9, 2016
Editor: Tony Greicius
The rim of Gale Crater is visible in the distance, through the dusty haze, in this Curiosity view of a sloping hillside on Mount Sharp.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
This closeup view from NASA's Curiosity rover shows finely layered rocks, deposited by wind long ago as migrating sand dunes.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
This view from Curiosity shows a dramatic hillside outcrop with sandstone layers that scientists refer to as "cross-bedding."
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
el dispensador dice:
justo delante de tus narices,
todo sucede aunque no lo mires,
hay vida allí delante,
aunque tus ojos alcancen,
y la tecnología complete la vanidad de lo que te ríes...
nada en el universo contiene soledad,
porque la creación se repite,
todo está prolijamente ocupado,
aunque tu comprensión no detecte a aquel otro que te observa,
preguntándose qué haces allí,
invadiendo espacios que pretendes,
en el engreimiento con el que te compras,
y también te vendes...
debes que en el universo no hay monedas,
ni economías que roben dignidades,
cada quien sabe resguardar sus ciclos,
porque la última palabra la tiene Dios,
y justamente él es quien no la ha dicho...
ten cuidado hombre!,
allí donde ves soledad...
puede que te ataque algo que no has visto.
SEPTIEMBRE 12, 2016.-
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