HiRISE images
Oh, gravity, the things you can do
A piece of Mars: Steep slopes in some parts of Mars are prone to very thin landslides that leave behind dark tracks. The landslides may be triggered by the wind or nearby impacts. They always move downslope -- in this case from upper left to lower right, meandering around craters and lapping up against old, stabilized dunes. The darkest one here is brand new, having formed sometime between 2007 and 2012. (HiRISE ESP_028642_1800) read more ❯
Winds in Gale crater, ancient and young
A piece of Gale crater, Mars: Cream-colored ripples wind their way through rough terrain. Looking more closely, the rocky surface seems to be made of highly eroded parallel ridges that are nearly perpendicular to most of the ripples. These ridges might be a remnant of much older (and larger) wind-blown ripples. When Curiosity drives over a surface like this one, we will be able to do more than just speculate about it. (HiRISE ESP_024102_1755) read more ❯
Squooshed craters
A piece of Mars: Impact craters are typically round circles, so when you see one that isn't, it's usually because something has changed its shape into something less perfectly round. These craters are squooshed on the lower right side, as ripples migrating towards the upper left invaded their southeastern (lower right) rims. (HiRISE ESP_028367_2085) read more ❯
Valley in Mt. Sharp
A piece of Gale crater, Mars: Here's a view of a small piece of Mt. Sharp, both from Curiosity (on the right) and from orbit (on the left, HiRISE ESP_028269_1755). A broad valley visible from the rover is revealed to be a natural staircase of layers, partly covered by dark sand. read more ❯
The dunes near Curiosity
A piece of Gale crater, Mars: Here are some of the large, dark dunes not far from where Curiosity has landed. They're pretty big monsters, 200-300 meters across. Their shape indicates they've been formed from two different wind directions: one blowing from the north and one from the ENE. These are the winds that Curiosity will experience on its trek to Mt. Sharp. (HiRISE ESP_018854_1755) read more ❯
What is Mt. Sharp?
A piece of Gale crater, Mars: What exactly is Mt. Sharp, the big mountain Curiosity is set to climb up? Here's a picture of what it is: layers and layers and layers and layers. And more layers. Probably sedimentary, but also possibly with some volcanic ash. Each layer tells its own story about some period in the distant past on Mars, and here are just a few of them, exposed by erosion for your viewing pleasure. (HiRISE PSP_008002_1750) read more ❯