Over March, NASA’s Curiosity has approached and studied a peculiar rock formation. Nicknamed Mount Mercou, after a French mountain, the outcrop is estimated to be over 6 meters (around 20 feet) and shows layers upon layers of ancient sediments now turned to rock. An incredible geological find.
Mount Mercou is part of a region of Mount Sharp, which Curiosity is slowly climbing, known as the Clay-bearing Unit. The industrious rover is now moving towards the Sulfur-bearing Unit. The current area is named after features in the French region around the town of Nontron, due to the discovery in the Martian soil of the mineral nontronite.
During this month, Curiosity did some exciting science and also some good photography. It snapped two images of Mount Mercou from two different angles, allowing the construction of a 3D stereoscopic view, as well as snapping one of its classic selfies.
The selfie is actually composed of 60 images taken by Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the rover’s robotic arm on March 26 which was the 3070 sol (Martian Day) that Curiosity has spent on Mars.
The last few weeks have also delivered some incredible footage of clouds on Mars and new panoramas of the regions, and we can’t wait to see what Curiosity will find next.
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