• March 28, 2024

[PHOTOS] New Clear Pictures of Mars Resembles US Deserts

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The Curiosity Mars Rover is celebrating it’s fourth year on the Red planet and not only are they clear but you can find similar scenes right here in the United States in our great Western deserts.

The images, released today by NASA, were taken in the 'Murray Buttes' region on mountain Lower Mount Sharp 

This stunning landscape, taken by the Curiosity Mars rover, shows the rim of Gale Crater visible in the distance, through the dusty haze in this view of a sloping hillside on Mount Sharp

Layered rock on Mars pictured by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, which has been on the Red Planet since August 2012

NASA says 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. 

From The Mail Online:

These images reveal in stunning detail the hills, plateaus and rock faces of the Red Planet.

Taken by the mast camera on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover and released today, the stunning pictures are from the ‘Murray Buttes’ region on our neighbouring planet.

Likening the scenes to areas of the US desert, Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said: ‘Curiosity’s science team has been just thrilled to go on this road trip through a bit of the American desert Southwest on Mars.’

The rover team plans to assemble several large, colour mosaics from images taken in the area, where the rover has spent the last month.

The buttes and mesas were formed from eroded remnants of ancient sandstone, which originated when winds deposited sand after Martian mountain lower Mount Sharp was formed. 

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