Indomitable Curiosity treks through mesas, captures Wild West-like images

NASA's Curiosity probe had two primary tasks after landing on Mars in 2012—explore the Martian plains where it had landed, then climb Mount Sharp, which tops out at 5,486 meters. The data the rover sent back after exploring ancient lake beds in the plains suggests these beds would have been favorable for microbial life, if any ever existed on ancient Mars. But Curiosity's more recent attempt to ascend the lower slopes of Mount Sharp was blocked by sand dunes.

So the scientists decided to drive the rover around the dunes to find a "pass" through to the mountain. They did so via an area called the Murray Buttes, named after famed scientist Bruce Murray, a co-founder of The Planetary Society. These buttes and small mesas are mostly between 5 to 10 meters high and about the length and width of a football field. They also gave Curiosity an opportunity to make interesting geological observations, as the images in the photo gallery attest.

Curiosity, which has now driven more than 14km across the surface of Mars, spent about a month following a valley through the middle of the Murray Buttes. And after performing a final drill sampling on September 9, it exited the buttes and drove southward toward the mountain. With a two-year extension approved by NASA, Curiosity should continue climbing until at least October 2018 and hopefully much longer after that.