Images from Mars are giving scientists an up close look at the Martian dunes so that further studies can eventually tell whether life formations are possible on the Red Planet. It has been something that has marveled not only scientists but most of the world’s population for decades.
The Curiosity Rover is now settled onto the land mass and provides images of the Red Planet as it makes its treks, capturing pictures all by its lonesome. A report by engadet said Curiosity Rover is traveling through the High Dune on the northwest side of Mars and retrieving samples which will be analyzed right there. Curiosty is equipped with its own laboratory.
The exploration of High Dune is a part of Bagnold Dunes and has the Curiosity located in the Northwest side of Mars. Curiosity captured a series of images and transmitted them back to Earth November 27, making for an early Thanksgiving celebration.
Curiosity had already presented images from a distance before its arrival at the High Dune area. At that time, in August, petrified sand dunes were spotted in the images. However, its presence there, now, has given researchers an up close view, as the images are sharper and more recognizable.
From previous images, “NASA already observed from orbit that edges of the dunes move as much at three feet (one meter) per Earth year.”Curisoity was initially launched from Cape Canaveral four years ago. Its November 26 journey to Mars took eight months. Its mission has been to investigate the planet’s environmental conditions in preparation for future exploration by humans.