Curiosity crossed the sand dunes without problems

The fact that on our planet is a routine (overcoming a sandy hill, you will think - on our roads and this does not have to be overcome), on Mars is a real achievement. Yes, the Curiosity rover crossed the sand dunes in the Dingo Gap region without any problems, and now a more or less level road to Sharpe Mountain has opened before it.

It is worth recalling that at the very beginning, scientists hesitated whether it was worthwhile to direct the rover to overcome a 1-meter-high sand dune or not. After discussion, it was decided to choose this path, and the rover boldly went to the obstacle. Now Curiosity will have fewer problems with the wheels - the surface of the terrain beyond the dunes is much smoother than the one that the rover had to roll up to now.
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Of course, the scientists did not send the rover into the sand without prior testing. The tests were conducted on Earth, where conditions similar to those of the Martian were modeled, which are typical for the Dingo Gap region. After everything was checked, the rover was given a command to drive along the edge of the dune to make sure that Curiosity could pass over the sand surface (by the way, the dunes are not composed of sand, but of a material that is in the grain size distribution between sand and dust).



As mentioned above, Curiosity is now heading for Sharpe Mountain, but first the rover will cross the region called Moonlight Valley.