Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Curiosity Rear Hazcam Left B image taken on Sol 1206, December 28, 2015
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars has entered Sol 1206.

New imagery from the robot includes added surveys of sand dunes.

The dunes close to Curiosity’s current location are part of “Bagnold Dunes,” a band along the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater.

Thanks to observations of this dune field from orbit, analysis show that edges of individual dunes move as much as 3 feet (1 meter) per Earth year.

Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1206, December 28, 2015
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity has been working on the Red Planet since its landing in early August 2012.

Curiosity’s Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1204, December 26, 2015.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

It reached the base of Mount Sharp in 2014 after investigating outcrops closer to its landing site and then trekking to the mountain.

The main mission of the robot is to examine higher layers of Mount Sharp.