NASA’s Curiosity shares dramatic glimpse of Martian dawn

The Curiosity rover snapped what NASA scientists are calling the most detailed view yet of the distant, wind-carved Martian cliffs at dawn, and leaving them asking more questions about what they see. 

The panoramic image was captured by the craft’s mastcam on Aug. 11 at 8:30 a.m. local time on the 4,982nd Martian day of the mission. The full image is made up of six individual images that were stitched together after the rover sent them to Earth. 

Dig deeper:

The image highlighted features the mission’s scientists have long hoped to see up close, including what the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory describes as "striking blue hues in the foreground as bright morning light illuminates crags known as yardangs on the horizon." 

The Curiosity rover’s mastcam snapped the photo on the 4,982nd Martian day of the mission. The full image is made up of six individual images that were stitched together after the rover sent them to Earth. 

 The yardang layer extends roughly 10 miles across the northwestern reaches of Mount Sharp. The Curiosity has been ascending the 3-mile-tall mountain since 2014 and recently reached 0.6 miles of elevation, marking the highest climb ever achieved on the red planet. 

Scientists hope to receive even more detailed imagery that will answer questions about how the yardangs were created. 

The backstory:

NASA says Mount Sharp is made up of layers and that each records a distinct period of the planet’s history. The study of those layers has helped scientists learn about the lakes and streams that once covered Mars billions of years ago. 

Scientists know the water dried up, leaving salty minerals behind. They think that after new material stopped settling on the mountain, winds may have stripped some of it away to give rise to the yardangs. 

Images lead scientists to more questions

But Curiosity project scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said there are unanswered questions about what the photo shows. 

"The yardang layer looks out of place. It’s the wrong color, the layers tilt at an odd angle, and it almost appears plastered on," Vasavada said. "But that’s what makes it exciting to reach. No one is sure exactly what created this layer, but one idea is it may be ash deposited by ancient volcanic eruptions."

Curiosity is in the second year of its fifth extended mission. The rover will spend most of the next year or so driving through layers enriched with sulfates and carbonates, which scientists say are signs of ancient drying on the surface. 

Scientists hope to reach the actual yardangs in 2027. Once there, Curiosity will use its robotic arm to collect data on the mysterious features. 

 

Air and Space