A stark, grayish-tan Martian landscape features jagged rock formations and rolling mountain ridges beneath a pale, hazy sky.

Martian Dawn

The captivating shapes of wind-carved crags called yardangs are revealed in this zoomed-in crop of a broader panorama captured by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover. Scientists are eager to learn more about how the yardang layer formed.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

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TakenAugust 11, 2026

Image CreditNASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

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Martian Dawn