Replicating Martian Dunes

Cross-bedding seen in the layers of this Martian rock is evidence of movement of water recorded by waves or ripples of loose sediment the water passed over.

The right Mast Camera (Mastcam) of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover provided this contextual view of the vicinity of the location called "John Klein," selected as Curiosity's first drilling site.

Michael Malin, left, principal investigator for three science cameras on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, comments to a news reporter during tests with Curiosity's mobility-test stand-in, Scarecrow, on...

This is the first laser spectrum from the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover, sent back from Mars on August 19, 2012.

Transporting the Curiosity rover from its birthplace in Pasadena, California to Cape Canaveral, Florida, took countless hours and careful planning and preparation. The precious rover was placed ont...

The Entry, Descent and Landing team celebrate just moments after news that Curiosity landed safely on Mars.

With NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft sealed inside its payload fairing, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rides a tall pillar of smoke and flames as it soars over Space Laun...

A chapter of the layered geological history of Mars is laid bare in this postcard from NASA's Curiosity rover. The image shows the base of Mount Sharp, the rover's eventual science destination.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has driven within robotic-arm's reach of the sandstone slab at the center of this April 23 view from the rover's Mast Camera.

This Jan. 13, 2015, view from the Mars Hand Lens Imager on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows outcomes of a mini-drill test to assess whether the "Mojave" rock is appropriate for full-depth drilling...

Scarecrow, a mobility-testing model for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, easily traverses large rocks in the Mars Yard testing area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Curiosity performs the first investigation of active sand dunes on another planet. Studying the Bagnold Dunes on Mars will help scientists understand the physics of Martian dunes and how they move.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover targeted the laser of the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument with remarkable accuracy for assessing the composition of the wall of a drilled hole and tailings tha...

This view from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a combination of dark and light material within a mineral vein at a site called "Garden City" on low...

A close-up view of a microchip with 1.2 million names that will be placed aboard NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover. Engineers etched the names onto a silicon wafer or microchip. They used an electron be...

This picture of the Martian landing site of NASA's Curiosity rover puts a color view obtained by the rover in the context of a computer simulation derived from images acquired from orbiting spacecr...

A viewpoint on "Vera Rubin Ridge" provided NASA's Curiosity Mars rover this detailed look back over the area where it began its mission inside Gale Crater, plus more-distant features of the crater....

On this image of the rock target "Knorr," color coding maps the amount of mineral hydration indicated by a ratio of near-infrared reflectance intensities measured by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NA...

With NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft sealed inside its payload fairing, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rides smoke and flames as it rises from the launch pad at Space Lau...

This stereo mosaic of images from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the terrain to the west from the rover's position on the 528th Martian day, or sol, of the miss...

This illustration portrays some of the reasons why finding organic chemicals on Mars is challenging. Whatever organic chemicals may be produced on Mars or delivered to Mars face several possible mo...

This 3D view of the calibration target for the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) aboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity was assembled from two images taken by that camera during the 34th Martian day, or so...

At Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, an overhead crane will be used to lift the Centaur upper stage for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V into the Vertical Integrat...

NASA's Curiosity rover pinged the ground with neutrons for the first time, a process called active neutron sounding, on Aug. 17, 2012.

Clay minerals are composed of layers. Water and cations (positive-charged ions) can be stored between these layers.