Black Sand Dune Found On Mars

This is a photo of a black sand dune discovered on Mars. The sand dune is between 15-20 feet tall. Similar to the Shifting Sands in Tanzania and the Black Beaches of Hawaii, but both are lighter than the newly discovered sand on Mars. 

This photo was taken by the Curiosity rover driving along on its way to Mount Sharp (its primary target), making it the first active dune to ever be visited on another planet! Here is the path Curiosity has taken since landing in 2012.

The rover is currently stationed at Namib dune for a few weeks; sampling the dune, using its sand scoop to look at the particles and watching the dune for activity like sand avalanches. The dune is a part of a network of sand dunes that fill what was probably once the bottom of a lake. Much is still to be discovered about these mysterious dunes.

Our Sparkly White Jurassic Star Dust Sand is out of this world soft, but now we know there is actually out of this world sand!