[meteorite-list] NASA Mars Rover Curiosity Reaches Sand Dunes

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4787

NASA Mars Rover Curiosity Reaches Sand Dunes
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
December 10, 2015

Fast Facts:

* Curiosity is using its wheels, as well as its science payload, to investigate 
sand that forms active dunes on Mars.

* Plans call for the rover to scoop up and sieve sand for onboard laboratory 
analysis.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has begun an up-close investigation of dark 
sand dunes up to two stories tall. The dunes are on the rover's trek up 
the lower portion of a layered Martian mountain.

A view of the rippled surface of what's been informally named "High Dune" 
is online at:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA20168

A wheel track exposing material beneath the surface of a sand sheet nearby 
is at:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA20169

The dunes close to Curiosity's current location are part of "Bagnold Dunes," 
a band along the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater. 
Observations of this dune field from orbit show that edges of individual 
dunes move as much as 3 feet (1 meter) per Earth year.

The rover's planned investigations include scooping a sample of the dune 
material for analysis with laboratory instruments inside Curiosity.

Curiosity has been working on Mars since early August 2012. It reached 
the base of Mount Sharp in 2014 after fruitfully investigating outcrops 
closer to its landing site and then trekking to the mountain. The main 
mission objective now is to examine successively higher layers of Mount 
Sharp.

For more information about Curiosity, visit:

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


Media Contact

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov 

Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-1077
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo at nasa.gov 

2015-367