--- description: Two years ago, NASA’s Curiosity Rover landed on Mars, transforming an engineering team’s high-risk brainstorming into reality. See the planet's topography, captured by Curiosity's HiRise cameras title: Martian Vistas: A Look at Curiosity Rover’s Home image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e5a81512440e235/69869e72adae4422665446a7/mars-curiosity-rover-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Martian Vistas: A Look at the Curiosity Rover’s Strange Home by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 6, 2014 9:45 AM CUT  Most of the dunes visible in this observation are barchan dunes. On barchan dunes, the steep slip face is between two "horns" that point downwind. Most of the dunes visible in this observation are barchan dunes. On barchan dunes, the steep slip face is between two "horns" that point downwind.NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 6, 2014 9:45 AM CUT  The 4 kilometer diameter crater in this image appears relatively fresh, but with little erosion or underground upheaval on Mars and no evidence of an extremely recent meteor hit, "fresh" is a relative term. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona  A towering dust devil casts a serpentine shadow over the Martian surface in this stunning, late springtime image of Amazonis Planitia. The length of the shadow indicates that the dust plume reaches more than 800 meters, or half a mile, in height. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona  Mars has extremely large temperature changes from winter to summer compared to the Earth. It gets cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere during the winter, but this ice is unstable when the warmer summer arrives and forces it to sublimate (transform directly back into a gas) away. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona  On Mars the seasonal polar caps are composed of dry ice (carbon dioxide). In the springtime as the sun shines on the ice, it turns from solid to gas and causes erosion of the surface. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona  A "fossa" is a cavity or depression..Floods of water and lava are thought to have emanated from the larger fossae nearby, perhaps forming the Athabasca channel and later filling it with lava. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona  Most of the dunes visible in this observation are barchan dunes. On barchan dunes, the steep slip face is between two "horns" that point downwind. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona  The Santa Maria Crater with visible rover tracks to the east. Opportunity has been studying this relatively fresh 90 meter diameter crater to better understand how crater excavation occurred during the impact and how it has been modified by weathering and erosion since. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona  The dune gullies (at edge of the field and here in this subimage) appear active and are anomalous in their location (high latitude). NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona  The dunes imaged here are similar to barchan dunes, commonly found in desert regions on Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona  Sand dunes are among the most widespread aeolian features present on Mars. Their spatial distribution and morphology, sensitive to subtle shifts in wind circulation patterns and wind strengths, can relate to patterns of erosion and deposition, and give clues to the sedimentary history of the surrounding terrain. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona  Aram Chaos is a 1300 kilometer diameter depression from which enormous cataclysmic releases of ground water are thought to have exploded onto the surface of Mars. T NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona  Sand dunes are among the most widespread aeolian features present on Mars. Their spatial distribution and morphology are sensitive to subtle shifts in wind circulation patterns and wind strengths. These provide clues to the sedimentary history of the surrounding terrain. 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