Sol 748, September 13, 2014. Beyond the sand ripples ahead, the light patch in the center of this three-frame composite lies at the foot of the Pahrump Hills, the rover’s next science operations target. The rover science team reported last week that they believe these rocks belong to the Murray Formation, the layer thought to underlie the entire stack of sediments making up Mount Sharp. Examining the water-altered sediments of the mound is the prime goal for the rest of Curiosity’s mission.
(The Murray Buttes, a topographical feature often noted as a landmark for the rover’s trek to Mount Sharp, should not be confused with the Murray Formation. The buttes lie farther to the southwest from the rover’s current position, and they are remnants of a different geological unit: the crater-floor sediments which the rover has been driving on since landing.)
Sol 748 raw images (from all cameras), and Curiosity’s latest location map.
