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Sandy Dunes

sand dune, mars rover, wheel, Dumont, Scarecrow, test - This image shows a sweeping view of Dumont Dunes in California's Mojave Desert, near Death Valley. One giant dune is pictured in the middle, casting a dark shadow over part of itself.

June 05, 2014

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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This image of a calibration target illuminated by ultraviolet LEDs (light emitting diodes) is part of the first set of nighttime images taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera at the end ...
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This image of a calibration target illuminated by ultraviolet LEDs (light emitting diodes) is part of the first set of nighttime images taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera at the end of the robotic arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.
First Night Image of MAHLI Calibration Target Under Ultraviolet Lights
This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to its location in December 2015, at examples of the Bagnold Dunes.
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This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to its location in December 2015, at examples of the Bagnold Dunes.
Curiosity Rover's Traverse, First 1,185 Sols on Mars
This graphic illustrates how dimensions of clay minerals' crystal structure are affected by which ions are present in the mineral. The CheMin instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover identified di...
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This graphic illustrates how dimensions of clay minerals' crystal structure are affected by which ions are present in the mineral. The CheMin instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover identified different clay minerals this way at two sites in Gale Crater: "Murray Buttes" and "Yellowknife Bay."
Clay Mineral Crystal Structure Tied to Composition
This view combines several frames taken by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, looking into a valley to the west from the eastern side of a dune at the eastern end of the valley.
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This view combines several frames taken by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, looking into a valley to the west from the eastern side of a dune at the eastern end of the valley.
Martian Valley May Be Curiosity's Route (White-Balanced)
A NASA Dryden Flight Research Center F/A-18 852 aircraft makes a 40-degree dive toward Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., during June 2011 flight tests of a Mars landing radar.
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A NASA Dryden Flight Research Center F/A-18 852 aircraft makes a 40-degree dive toward Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., during June 2011 flight tests of a Mars landing radar.
Airborne Testing for Mars Landing Radar by Dryden F/A-18
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove about 70 feet (about 21 meters) on the mission's 21st Martian day, or sol (Aug. 30, 2012) and then took images with its Navigation Camera that are combined into th...
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove about 70 feet (about 21 meters) on the mission's 21st Martian day, or sol (Aug. 30, 2012) and then took images with its Navigation Camera that are combined into this scene, which inclues the fresh tracks.
Looking Back at Tracks from Sol 24 Drive
This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows a small bright object on the ground beside the rover at the "Rocknest" site.
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This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows a small bright object on the ground beside the rover at the "Rocknest" site.
Small Debris on the Ground Beside Curiosity
Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification Testing
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Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification Testing
Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification Testing
A wheel track cuts through a windblown ripple of dusty sand in this Nov. 7, 2014, image from the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity rover. The view spans about four feet across. This experiment was planne...
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A wheel track cuts through a windblown ripple of dusty sand in this Nov. 7, 2014, image from the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity rover. The view spans about four feet across. This experiment was planned for yielding a view of the inside of the ripple for assessment of particle sizes and composition.
Ripple's Interior Exposed by Rover Wheel Track (Labeled)
Large Parachute for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory
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Large Parachute for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory
Large Parachute for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory
This stereo mosaic of images from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the terrain surrounding the rover's position on the 524th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (...
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This stereo mosaic of images from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the terrain surrounding the rover's position on the 524th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Jan. 26, 2014).
Full-Circle Vista During Curiosity's Approach to 'Dingo Gap' (Stereo)
Pictured here is Clara Ma (in front row on the right) and her sister Remmy Ma with engineers Suparna Mukherjee, Jaime Waydo and then Julie Towsend (back row).
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Pictured here is Clara Ma (in front row on the right) and her sister Remmy Ma with engineers Suparna Mukherjee, Jaime Waydo and then Julie Towsend (back row).
Clara, Remmy Ma with Engineers
This wide-angle view shows the High Bay 1 cleanroom inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Specialists are working on components of the Mars S...
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This wide-angle view shows the High Bay 1 cleanroom inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Working on Curiosity in JPL Spacecraft Assembly Facility
The artist's animation depicts how NASA's Curiosity rover will communicate with Earth during landing. As the rover descends to Mars, it will send out basic radio-frequency tones that go directly to...
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Curiosity Speaks
Curiosity Speaks
A grid of small polygons on the Martian rock surface near the right edge of this view may have originated as cracks in drying mud more than 3 billion years ago. Multiple Dec. 20, 2016, images from ...
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A grid of small polygons on the Martian rock surface near the right edge of this view may have originated as cracks in drying mud more than 3 billion years ago. Multiple Dec. 20, 2016, images from the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover were combined for this view of a rock called "Squid Cove."
Possible Signs of Ancient Drying in Martian Rock
This movie shows the first 360-degree panorama in color of the Gale Crater landing site taken by NASA's Curiosity rover. It was made from thumbnail versions of images taken by the Mast Camera. (No ...
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Curiosity's First Low-Resolution Color Panorama
Curiosity's First Low-Resolution Color Panorama
This mosaic view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows textural characteristics and shapes of an outcrop called "Point Lake."
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This mosaic view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows textural characteristics and shapes of an outcrop called "Point Lake."
Puzzling 'Point Lake' Outcrop Revisited (Raw Color)
Unlike previous rovers sent to Mars, Curiosity is a robot chemist seeking evidence of past habitability on Mars.
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The Science of Curiosity: Seeking Signs of Past Mars Habitability
The Science of Curiosity: Seeking Signs of Past Mars Habitability
This view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a site with a network of prominent mineral veins below a cap rock ridge on lower Mount Sharp.
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This March 27, 2015, view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a site with a network of prominent mineral veins below a cap rock ridge on lower Mount Sharp. At this "Garden City" site, the veins have been more resistant to erosion than the surrounding host rock.
Veiny 'Garden City' Site and Surroundings on Mount Sharp, Mars
This artist's scoreboard displays a fictional game between Mars and Earth, with Mars in the lead. It refers to the success rate of sending missions to Mars, both as orbiters and landers.
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This artist's scoreboard displays a fictional game between Mars and Earth, with Mars in the lead. It refers to the success rate of sending missions to Mars, both as orbiters and landers.
Tackling the Challenge of Mars
At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, integration between a rocket-powered descent stage and NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Cu...
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At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, integration between a rocket-powered descent stage and NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, is complete. The descent stage will lower Curiosity to the surface of Mars.
Rover and Descent Stage Merge
Before NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars, the strata exposed in Mount Sharp were compared to those in the Grand Canyon of the western United States, shown here.
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Before NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars, the strata exposed in Mount Sharp were compared to those in the Grand Canyon of the western United States, shown here.
Grand Canyon Similar to Mount Sharp
This mosaic taken by NASA's Mars Curiosity rover looks uphill at Mount Sharp, which Curiosity has been climbing. 
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This mosaic taken by NASA's Mars Curiosity rover looks uphill at Mount Sharp, which Curiosity has been climbing.
Curiosity is Ready for Clay (Highlighted)
This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp.
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This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp.
Curiosity Mars Rover's Route from Landing to Base of Mount Sharp
Some of the women working on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project, which built and operates the Curiosity Mars rover, gathered for this photo in the Mars Yard used for rover testing at NASA's Jet...
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Some of the women working on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project, which built and operates the Curiosity Mars rover, gathered for this photo in the Mars Yard used for rover testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
Women of Mars, in Mars Yard at JPL

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