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[Music]

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the terrain around the curiosity rover

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is beginning to look very different

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the rover has driven over 16 miles since

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landing in gale crater in 2012.

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this view is from 1500 feet above our

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landing site

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we're climbing the side of mount sharp a

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very tall mountain in the center of the

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crater

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[Music]

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all of this dark material is martian

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sand that's made up of broken bits of

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volcanic rock

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can you see the ripples that were shaped

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by the wind

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we had to drive around this massive sand

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sheet as we climbed mount sharp

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look how clear the air is

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that's because it's winter when there's

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less dust in the atmosphere you can see

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all the way to the rim of gale crater

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which is about 20 miles away

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we spent the last several years

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investigating clay-rich rocks that

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formed in lakes

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but now we're entering a region where

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rocks are filled with salty minerals

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called sulfates

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these minerals form in drier conditions

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so we think this area might show us how

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the ancient martian climate was changing

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we're starting to see lots of very cool

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knobbly textured rocks like these

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we think these veins and nodules were

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created by groundwater

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[Music]

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here we recently drilled our 30-second

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sample of the mission by studying the

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chemicals and minerals in this rock we

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can learn how the ancient environment

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was changing as we go from the clay

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and these hills are different from

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anything we've seen on the lower

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mountain

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they're rounded unlike the ridges and

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now let's look ahead to where we're

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going

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we'll soon be entering a narrow valley

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that should make for some amazing images

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on the left is rafael navarro mountain

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named after one of the mission

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scientists who passed away in january of

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2021

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this nearby hill is huge

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it's about the size of a four-story

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building

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this changing terrain is more than just

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fun to look at it can teach us how mars

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lost its water over time

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how long did conditions that were