Mars’ Jagged Rock Formations Are Beautiful Beyond Belief

NASA’s Curiosity rover has captured stunning pictures of the eroded rock formations in the “Murray Buttes” region of the Mount Sharp on Mars. The photos are in remarkably high definition that will make you feel like you are right there on Mars trekking through the rocky terrain.

On Thursday, September 8, the Curiosity rover snapped these amazing photos using its Mastcam. The detailed look of the planet’s surface reveal Martian buttes and mesas, which are the “eroded remnants of ancient sandstone that originated when winds deosited sand after lower Mount Sharp had formed,” NASA explained.

Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory 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.”

Vasavada continued, “Studying these buttes up close has given us a better understanding of ancient sand dunes that formed and were buried, chemically changed by groundwater, exhumed and eroded to form the landscape that we see today.”

NASA has made plans to use the images from the site on Mars to craft several large color mosaics, which sounds totally awesome.

After roaming around for the past month, the aforementioned photos captured Curiosity’s last stop through the Murray Buttes. The rover will now be heading south where it will drive up to the base of the final butte before making its way higher up the mountain.

Check out the gallery below to see the amazing photos of Mars’ jagged rock formations.

To learn more about Curiosity’s Rover, visit the Jet Propulsion Laboratory website here.

[H/T Gizmodo, NASA: Jet Propulsion Laboratory]