{"id":298,"date":"2026-08-03T13:08:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/?p=298"},"modified":"2026-08-03T14:27:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T14:27:17","slug":"nasas-curiosity-views-a-sand-capped-butte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/?p=298","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Curiosity Views a Sand-Capped Butte"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"p-0\">\n<div class=\"grid-container grid-row grid-container-block padding-0\">\n<div class=\"desktop:grid-col-3 desktop:padding-right-5 desktop:padding-left-3 padding-top-3\">\n<div class=\"publish-date meta-item grid-row flex-align-center border-bottom padding-y-2\"><time class=\"\">07\/29\/2026<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"desktop:grid-col-9 desktop:padding-left-9 desktop:padding-right-3 desktop:padding-top-3 usa-article-content\">\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-module wp-block-smd-block-post-meta\">\n<div class=\"CustomFields hds-module\">\n<div class=\"CustomFields hds-media \">\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-featured-file-list bg-spacesuit-white padding-x-2 tablet:padding-x-3 desktop:padding-x-4 padding-y-5 desktop:padding-y-6 hds-module align wp-block-nasa-blocks-file-list\">\n<div class=\"grid-container grid-container-block padding-0\">\n<div class=\"grid-row width-full margin-bottom-4\">\n<div class=\"grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-6 margin-bottom-2 desktop:margin-bottom-0\">\n<h2 class=\"heading-22\">\n\t\t\t\t\tDownloads\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-6\">\n<div class=\"desktop:grid-col display-flex flex-align-center desktop:flex-justify-end\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"hds-list-row hds-file-list-row\">\n<div class=\"hds-list-thumbnail hds-file-list-thumbnail\">\n<div class=\"hds-list-thumbnail-inner hds-file-list-thumbnail-inner hds-cover-wrapper\">\n<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"hds-list-details\">\n<div class=\"hds-list-name hds-file-list-name\">\n<h2 class=\"heading-22\">NASA\u2019s Curiosity Views a Sand-Capped Butte<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"hds-list-meta\">\n<div class=\"hds-list-meta-item hds-list-date hds-file-list-date\">\n<p class=\"p-sm\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"hds-list-meta-item hds-file-list-filetype\">\n<p class=\"p-sm\">PNG (27.41 MB)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"hds-list-cta hds-file-list-download\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a aria-label=\"Download NASA\u2019s Curiosity Views a Sand-Capped Butte\" href=\"https:\/\/assets.science.nasa.gov\/content\/dam\/science\/psd\/photojournal\/pia\/pia26\/pia26730\/PIA26730.png\" target=\"_blank\" download><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NASA\u2019s Curiosity Mars rover captured this sand-capped butte, nicknamed \u201cMiraflores,\u201d estimated to be about 20 feet (6 meters) tall, with its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on June 11, 2026, the 4,923rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The butte was left behind as surrounding rock eroded away over time, deepening the broad valley Curiosity is climbing through.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The surrounding area includes an expanse of terrain covered in surface features called polygons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The panorama is made up of 11 individual images that were sent to Earth and stitched together. The color has been adjusted to match lighting conditions as the human eye would see them on Earth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Curiosity was built by NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA\u2019s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To learn more about Curiosity, visit:<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/msl-curiosity\">science.nasa.gov\/mission\/msl-curiosity<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-topic-cards nasa-gb-align-full maxw-full width-full padding-y-6 padding-x-3 color-mode-dark hds-module hds-module-full alignfull wp-block-nasa-blocks-topic-cards\">\n<div class=\"grid-container grid-container-block-lg padding-x-0\">\n<div class=\"grid-row flex-align-center margin-bottom-3\">\n<div class=\"desktop:grid-col-8 margin-bottom-2 desktop:margin-bottom-0\">\n<div class=\"label color-carbon-60 margin-bottom-2\">Keep Exploring<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"heading-36 line-height-sm\">Discover More Topics From Photojournal<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grid-row grid-gap-2 hds-topic-cards-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/photojournal\/\" class=\"mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"hds-topic-card hds-cover-wrapper cover-hover-zoom bg-carbon-black\">\n<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/photojournal\/search\/\" class=\"mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"hds-topic-card hds-cover-wrapper cover-hover-zoom bg-carbon-black\">\n<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/photojournal\/latest\/\" class=\"mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"hds-topic-card hds-cover-wrapper cover-hover-zoom bg-carbon-black\">\n<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/photojournal\/feedback\/\" class=\"mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"hds-topic-card hds-cover-wrapper cover-hover-zoom bg-carbon-black\">\n<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"edit-post-link\"><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/photojournal\/nasas-curiosity-views-a-sand-capped-butte\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NASA Science<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/photojournal\/nasas-curiosity-views-a-sand-capped-butte\/\">NASA Science<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Description NASA\u2019s Curiosity Mars rover captured this sand-capped butte, nicknamed \u201cMiraflores,\u201d estimated to be about 20 feet (6 meters) tall, with its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on June 11, 2026, the 4,923rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The butte was left behind as surrounding rock eroded away over time, deepening the broad valley&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-space-nasa-photos-visual-records"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=298"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions\/346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}