NASA's Curiosity Mars rover sent back new color pictures of the red planet during its visit to the “Murray Buttes” region of lower Mount Sharp, a monstrous formation of sedimentary rock that rises from the floor of the Gale Crater.
The images were taken by Curiosity's Mast Camera on Thursday (September 8). They show, in detail, rocky terrain and 'buttes', isolated hill formations, on the surface of Mars.
The buttes are expected to give researchers a better understanding of how the current landscape of Mars came to be, a NASA scientist explained in a news release.
According to NASA, the pictures are from Curiosity's last and final stop in the Murray Buttes where the rover has been exploring the surface for over a month before it moves higher up Mount Sharp.
Scientists believe the mound may have formed from the remains of sediment that once completely filled the basin, offering a potentially valuable geologic record of the history of Mars, the planet most similar to Earth.