NASA’s Curiosity Views a Sand-Capped Butte

NASA has released a photograph from its Curiosity rover showing a sand-capped butte on Mars. The formation, nicknamed "Miraflores," stands about twenty feet tall and was captured in mid-June by the rover's Mastcam. The butte sits in a broad valley that Curiosity is climbing, and NASA reports it was left behind as surrounding rock eroded away over geologic time — a process that has deepened the valley and sculpted the Martian landscape. The terrain around it features polygonal surface patterns. Curiosity, now over thirteen years into its mission, continues to document the geological history of the planet.

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