Curiosity's Panorama Reveals Martian Yardangs

NASA's Curiosity rover has sent back a panorama that shows a part of Mars scientists have been waiting to see up close. The image, taken on Aug. 11 (the 4,982nd Martian day of the mission), captures a field of wind-carved cliffs known as yardangs stretching across the northwestern edge of Mount Sharp.

The panorama was shot at 8:30 a.m. local Mars time using Curiosity's Mastcam. Unlike most Mastcam images, this one was processed without white balancing, so it keeps the early morning's blue tint. The six individual frames were stitched together after the data reached Earth.

Mount Sharp is a 3-mile-tall mountain that Curiosity has been climbing since 2014. The rover recently passed another milestone: 0.6 miles of elevation gain, the most ever climbed on Mars. That's about the height of a 3,000-foot tower, taller than any building on Earth.

"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," said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "But that's what makes it exciting to reach."

The yardang layer extends roughly 10 miles across the northwestern reaches of Mount Sharp, about the length of Manhattan. Scientists believe it may be ash from ancient volcanic eruptions, deposited and then carved by wind after the water that once filled this region dried up. Layers of Mount Sharp preserve evidence of ancient lakes and streams, then salty minerals as the water vanished.

Curiosity is currently in its fifth extended mission. It has spent time exploring boxwork ridges and will spend most of the next year driving through layers rich in sulfates and carbonates, signs of drying. If all goes well, the rover should reach the base of the yardangs sometime in 2027, where it can use its robotic arm to study the cliffs directly.

• Curiosity
• Mars
• Mastcam
• Mount Sharp
• NASA
• yardangs