--- title: Mars: Curiosity Rover Sends NASA New Photos description: NASA's Curiosity Rover recently returned some striking color images from Mars of the Murray Buttes, one of the lower regions of Mount Sharp. canonical: https://time.com/4487557/mars-curiosity-rover-photos/ author: Marisa Gertz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-12T16:20:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:59:31.744Z article:section: Science og:title: It Turns Out Mars Looks a Lot Like the American Southwest og:description: The new images from the Curiosity Rover rival photos taken in U.S. National Parks, NASA says og:url: https://time.com/4487557/mars-curiosity-rover-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24406478b983ca20/6988a588f887dc2826e975df/mars-murray-buttes-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1344 og:image:height: 756 og:image:alt: mars-murray-buttes-02 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: It Turns Out Mars Looks a Lot Like the American Southwest twitter:description: The new images from the Curiosity Rover rival photos taken in U.S. National Parks, NASA says twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24406478b983ca20/6988a588f887dc2826e975df/mars-murray-buttes-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Mars Rover Sent Back Some Pictures and They Look a Lot Like the American Southwest > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Marisa Gertz](https://time.com/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Sep 12, 2016 4:20 PM UTC  Curiosity got close to this outcrop, which displays finely layered rocks, on Sept. 9, 2016. Curiosity got close to this outcrop, which displays finely layered rocks, on Sept. 9, 2016. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS by [Marisa Gertz](https://time.com/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Sep 12, 2016 4:20 PM UTC NASA’s [Curiosity Rover](http://time.com/4200830/curiosity-rover-mars-selfie/) recently returned some striking color images from Mars of the Murray Buttes, one of the lower regions of Mount Sharp. The buttes and mesas are the eroded remains of ancient sandstone that have risen above the sandy, Martian surface. Studying the rock formations up close is giving scientists a better understanding of how Mars’ landscape was formed, says Curiosity Project Scientist [Ashwin Vasavada](http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6618), of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The images may look uncannily familiar to desert dwellers and visitors here on Earth. “Curiosity’s science team has been just thrilled to go on this road trip through a bit of the American desert Southwest on Mars,” Vasavada says. NASA compared the images to those taken in U.S. [National Parks](http://time.com/4459379/national-parks-space-nps-birthday-centennial/). The rover has been exploring the Murray Buttes area for a little over a month and is now on its way south and further up [Mount Sharp](http://time.com/4460985/mars-nasa-360-degree-video/), where it will investigate how the landscape and atmosphere of ancient Mars, thought to be more favorable to life, has evolved into its current condition.  This closeup view from NASA's Curiosity rover shows finely layered rocks, deposited by wind long ago as migrating sand dunes. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS  Curiosity got close to this outcrop, which displays finely layered rocks, on Sept. 9, 2016. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS  The rim of Gale Crater is visible in the distance, through the dusty haze, in this Curiosity view of a sloping hillside on Mount Sharp. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS  Curiosity viewed sloping buttes and layered outcrops as it exited the "Murray Buttes" region on lower Mount Sharp, Sept. 9, 2016. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS  This view from Curiosity shows a dramatic hillside outcrop with sandstone layers that scientists refer to as "cross-bedding." 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