Hazcam image showing Mt. Sharp, which rises 3.4 miles high from the floor of Gale Crater. The Rover team plans to drive the probe to the mountain’s lower layers to sample and study soil and minerals. In the foreground are the rover’s shadow and two of its wheels. The dark bands in the near distance are dunes. Click for bigger version. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Just a quick update this evening in case you haven’t checked out the latest pictures in NASA’s Curiosity gallery. Mt. Sharp looks very impressive! The tall peak was named for geologist Robert P. Sharp (1911-2004), a founder of planetary science, influential teacher of many current leaders in the field, and team member for NASA’s early Mars missions.
The green diamond shows approximately where Curiosity landed – nearly at the center of the estimated landing region shown in blue. At right is a picture taken by the descent camera as Curiosity was being lowered by sky crane to the ground. Circular plumes of dust were created by the rocket exhaust. The rover was about 70 feet above the surface at the time. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
