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The rippled surface of the first Martian sand dune ever studied up close fills this view of "High Dune" from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity rover. This site is part of the "Bagnold Dunes" field along the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp. The dunes are active, migrating up to about one yard or meter per year.
The component images of this mosaic view were taken on Nov. 27, 2015, during the 1,176th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars.
The scene is presented with a color adjustment that approximates white balancing, to resemble how the sand would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth. Figure A includes superimposed scale bars of 30 centimeters (1 foot) in the foreground and 100 centimeters (3.3 feet) in the middle distance.
Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover's Mastcam. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.
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Rover Track in Sand Sheet Near Martian Sand Dune
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A wheel track left by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover exposes underlying material in a shallow sand sheet in this view from Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam). The site is close to a large sand dune of similarly dark sand grains.
The component images of this mosaic view were taken on Dec. 2, 2015, during the 1,181st Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars. The scene is presented with a color adjustment that approximates white balancing, to resemble how the sand would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth. Figure A includes a superimposed scale bar of 50 centimeters (20 inches).
Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover's Mastcam. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.
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This view shows grains of sand where NASA's Curiosity Mars rover was driven into a shallow sand sheet near a large dune. The scene covers an area 1.3 inches wide, imaged by Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager on Dec. 3, 2015. Sunlight is coming from the left.
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This view of the undisturbed surface of a Martian sand dune called "High Dune" visited by NASA's Curiosity rover shows coarse grains remaining on the surface after wind removal of smaller particles.
The image covers an area 1.4 inches by 1.1 inches (3.6 by 2.7 centimeters). It was taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on the rover's arm on Dec. 5, 2015, during the 1,184th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars.
The imaged location is near the base of the dune. High Dune, in the Bagnold Dunes field skirting the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp, is the first sand dune studied in place anywhere except Earth. What distinguishes actual dunes from windblown ripples of sand or dust, like those found at several sites visited previously by Mars rovers, is that dunes form a downwind face steep enough for sand to slide down.
MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.
Quelle: NASA
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