Mount Sharp, officially Aeolis Mons (), is a mountain on Mars. It forms the central peak within

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).United States Geological Survey's Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature is 15000.Aeolis Mons
/ref> On August 6, 2012, ''

Curiosity Curiosity (from Latin '' cūriōsitās'', from ''cūriōsus'' "careful, diligent, curious", akin to ''cura'' "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human ...

'' (the Mars Science Laboratory rover) landed in "Yellowknife" ''Quad 51'' of

Aeolis Palus Aeolis Palus is a plain between the northern wall of Gale crater and the northern foothills of Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp) on Mars. It is located at . The NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission landed the ''Curiosity'' rover on Aeolis Palus in Aug ...

, next to the mountain. NASA named the landing site

Bradbury Landing Bradbury Landing is the August 6, 2012, landing site within Gale crater on planet Mars of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) ''Curiosity'' rover. On August 22, 2012, on what would have been his 92nd birthday, NASA named the site for author Ra ...

on August 22, 2012. Aeolis Mons is a primary goal for scientific study. On June 5, 2013, NASA announced that ''Curiosity'' would begin an journey from the Glenelg area to the base of Aeolis Mons. On November 13, 2013, NASA announced that an entryway the rover would traverse on its way to Aeolis Mons was to be named "Murray Buttes", in honor of

planetary scientist Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their fo ...

Bruce C. Murray Bruce Churchill Murray (November 30, 1931 – August 29, 2013) was an American planetary scientist. He was a director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and co-founder of The Planetary Society. Education and early life Murray receive ...

(1931–2013). The trip was expected to take about a year and would include stops along the way to study the local terrain. On September 11, 2014, NASA announced that ''Curiosity'' had reached Aeolis Mons, the rover mission's long-term prime destination. Possible recurrent slope lineae, wet

brine Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for b ...

flows, were reported on Mount Sharp near ''Curiosity'' in 2015. In June 2017, NASA reported that an ancient striated lake had existed in Gale crater that could have been favorable for

microbial life A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

Formation

The mountain appears to be an enormous mound of eroded sedimentary layers sitting on the central peak of Gale. It rises above the northern crater floor and above the southern crater floor, higher than the southern crater rim. The sediments may have been laid down over an interval of 2 billion years, and may have once completely filled the crater. Some of the lower sediment layers may have originally been deposited on a lake bed, while observations of possibly cross-bedded strata in the upper mound suggest

aeolian processes Aeolian processes, also spelled eolian, pertain to wind activity in the study of geology and weather and specifically to the wind's ability to shape the surface of the Earth (or other planets). Winds may erode, transport, and deposit material ...

. However, this issue is debated, and the origin of the lower layers remains unclear. If

katabatic wind A katabatic wind (named from the Greek word κατάβασις ''katabasis'', meaning "descending") is a drainage wind, a wind that carries high-density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds are sometim ...

deposition played the predominant role in the emplacement of the sediments, as suggested by reported 3 degree radial slopes of the mound's layers, erosion would have come into play largely to place an upper limit on the mound's growth. On December 8, 2014, a panel of NASA scientists discussed
archive 62:03)
the latest observations of ''Curiosity'' about how water may have helped shape the landscape of Mars, including Aeolis Mons, and had a climate long ago that could have produced long-lasting lakes at many Martian locations. On October 8, 2015, NASA confirmed that lakes and streams existed in Gale crater 3.3 - 3.8 billion years ago delivering sediments to build up the lower layers of Mount Sharp. On February 1, 2019, NASA scientists reported that ''Curiosity'' had determined, for the first time, the density of Mount Sharp in Gale crater, thereby establishing a clearer understanding of how the mountain was formed.

Understanding size

Aeolis Mons is high, about the same height as Mons Huygens, the tallest lunar mountain, and taller than Mons Hadley visited by

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to land on the Moon. It was the first J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greater focus on science than ear ...

. The tallest mountain known in the Solar System is in

Rheasilvia Rheasilvia is the most prominent surface feature on the asteroid Vesta and is thought to be an impact crater. It is in diameter, which is 90% the diameter of Vesta itself, and is 95% the mean diameter of Vesta, . However, the mean is affect ...

crater on the asteroid Vesta, which contains a central mound that rises high; Olympus Mons on Mars is nearly the same height, at high. In comparison, Mount Everest rises to altitude above sea level (asl), but is only (base-to-peak) (btp).''Mount Everest'' (1:50,000 scale map), prepared under the direction of

Bradford Washburn Henry Bradford Washburn Jr. (June 7, 1910 – January 10, 2007) was an American explorer, mountaineer, photographer, and cartographer. He established the Boston Museum of Science, served as its director from 1939–1980, and from 1985 until his d ...

for the Boston Museum of Science, the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, and the National Geographic Society, 1991, Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro is about altitude above sea level to the Uhuru peak; also 4.6 km base-to-peak. America's Denali, also known as ''Mount McKinley'', has a base-to-peak of . The Franco-Italian '' Mont Blanc/Monte Bianco'' is in altitude above sea level, Mount Fuji, which overlooks Tokyo, Japan, is about altitude. Compared to the Andes, Aeolis Mons would rank outside the hundred tallest peaks, being roughly the same height as Argentina's Cerro Pajonal; the peak is higher than any above sea level in Oceania, but base-to peak it is considerably shorter than Hawaii's Mauna Kea and its neighbors.

Name

Discovered in the 1970s, the mountain remained unnamed for several decades. When Gale crater became a candidate landing site, the mountain was given various labels e.g. in 2010 a NASA photo caption called it "Gale crater mound". In March 2012, NASA unofficially named it "Mount Sharp", after American geologist Robert P. Sharp. PIA15292-Fig2-MarsMountSharp-HeightComparison

PIA15292-Fig2-MarsMountSharp-HeightComparison

Since 1919 the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...

(IAU) has been the official body responsible for

planetary nomenclature Planetary nomenclature, like terrestrial nomenclature, is a system of uniquely identifying features on the surface of a planet or natural satellite so that the features can be easily located, described, and discussed. Since the invention of the tel ...

. Under its long-established rules for naming features on Mars, mountains are named after the classical albedo feature in which they are located, not after people. In May 2012 the IAU officially named the mountain Aeolis Mons after the Aeolis albedo feature. It also gave the name

to the plain located on the crater floor between the northern wall of Gale and the northern foothills of the mountain. The IAU's choice of name is supported by the United States Geological Survey. Martian craters are named after deceased scientists, so in recognition of NASA and Sharp, at the same time the IAU named " Robert Sharp", a large ( diameter), crater located about west of Gale. NASA and the European Space Agency continue to refer to the mountain as "Mount Sharp" in press conferences and press releases. This is similar to their use of other informal names, such as the Columbia Hills near one of the

Mars Exploration Rover NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, '' Spirit'' and '' Opportunity'', exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rovers to explore the Martian surface ...

landing sites. In August 2012, the magazine '' Sky & Telescope'' ran an article explaining the rationale of the two names and held an informal poll to determine which one was preferred by their readers. Over 2700 people voted, with Aeolis Mons winning by 57% to Mount Sharp's 43%.

Spacecraft exploration

On December 16, 2014, NASA reported detecting, based on measurements by the ''Curiosity'' rover, an unusual increase, then decrease, in the amounts of methane in the

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

of the planet Mars; as well as, detecting Martian

organic chemical In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon- hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. T ...

s in powder drilled from a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

by the rover. Also, based on deuterium to hydrogen ratio studies, much of the water at Gale Crater on Mars was found to have been lost during ancient times, before the lakebed in the crater was formed; afterwards, large amounts of water continued to be lost. On June 1, 2017, NASA reported that the ''Curiosity'' rover provided evidence of an ancient lake in Gale crater on Mars that could have been favorable for

; the ancient lake was stratified, with shallows rich in

oxidants An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ). In other words, an oxid ...

and depths poor in oxidants; and, the ancient lake provided many different types of microbe-friendly environments at the same time. NASA further reported that the ''Curiosity'' rover will continue to explore higher and younger layers of Mount Sharp in order to determine how the lake environment in ancient times on Mars became the drier environment in more modern times. On August 5, 2017, NASA celebrated the fifth anniversary of the ''Curiosity'' landing, and related exploratory accomplishments, on the planet Mars. (Videos
''Curiosity'' First Five Years (02:07)''Curiosity'' POV: Five Years Driving (05:49)''Curiosity'' Discoveries About Gale Crater (02:54)
On April 11, 2019, NASA announced that ''Curiosity'' had drilled into, and closely studied, a " clay-bearing unit" which, according to the rover Project Manager, is a "major milestone" in ''Curiosity'' journey up Mount Sharp. PIA23179-MarsCuriosityRoverExploersMountSharp-20190515

PIA23179-MarsCuriosityRoverExploersMountSharp-20190515

''Curiosity'' mission

As of , , ''Curiosity'' has been on the planet Mars for sols ( total days) since landing on August 6, 2012. Since September 11, 2014, ''Curiosity'' has been
exploring
the slopes of Mount Sharp, where more information about the history of Mars is expected to be found. As of January 26, 2021, the rover has traveled over and climbed over in elevation to, and around, the mountain base since landing at "

" in August 2012.

Gallery

Image:PIA16064-Mars Curiosity Rover Treasure Map.jpg, Overview map - blue oval marks "Base of Aeolis Mons" (August 17, 2012). Image:MarsCuriosityRover-TraverseMap-Sol-0746-20140911.jpg, Traverse map - route from Landing to slopes on Aeolis Mons (September 11, 2014). Image:PIA18475-MarsCuriosityRover--HIRISE-TraverseMap-PahrumpHills-20140911.jpg, Close-up Map - new route (yellow) - Aeolis Mons slopes (September 11, 2014). Image:PIA18780-MarsCuriosityRover-HIRISE-PlannedRouteMap-PahrumpHills-MountSharp-20140911.jpg, Close-up map - new route (yellow) - Aeolis Mons slopes (September 11, 2014). Image:PIA18474-MarsCuriosityRover-GaleCrater-TopographicMap-PahrumpHills-20140911.jpg, Close-up map - Aeolis Mons slopes - with few craters (bottom) (September 11, 2014). Image:PIA18785-MarsCuriosityRover-HIRISE-MurrayRidge-Transition-20140911.jpg, Geology map - Aeolis Mons slopes (September 11, 2014). Image:PIA18781-MarsCuriosityRover-GeologyMap-LowerMountSharp-20140911.jpg, Geology map - Aeolis Mons slopes (September 11, 2014). Image:PIA17587-MarsCuriosityRover-MurrayButtes-20131113.jpg, "Murray Buttes" knobs - Aeolis Mons slopes (November 13, 2013). Image:PIA18783-MarsCuriosityRover-HIRISE-MurrayButtesMesa-20140911.jpg, "Murray Buttes" mesa - Aeolis Mons slopes (September 11, 2014). Image:PIA18784-MarsCuriosityRover-HIRISE-MurrayRidgeFormation-20140911.jpg, "Murray Formation" bands - Aeolis Mons slopes (September 11, 2014). Image:Pia19039 some key places in a survey of the "Pahrump Hills" .jpg, "Pahrump Hills" - Notable places at base of Aeolis Mons (Autumn, 2014). Image:PIA18883-MarsCuriosityRover-PahrumpHills-Sand-20141113.jpg, "Pahrump Hills" sand - viewed by ''Curiosity'' (November 13, 2014). Image:PIA18882-MarsCuriosityRover-PahrumpHillsSand-WheelTrack-20141107.tif, "Pahrump Hills" sand - ''Curiosity'' tracks (November 7, 2014). Image:PIA18610-MarsCuriosityRover-PahrumpHillsOutcrop-Mahli-Sol758-20140923.jpg, " Pahrump Hills" rock outcrop on Mars – viewed by ''Curiosity'' (September 23, 2014). Image:PIA18609 - First Sampling Hole in Mount Sharp .jpg, "

Confidence Hills The Confidence Hills are a mountain range in the Mojave Desert, in southern Inyo County, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area ...

" rock on Mars - ''Curiosity'' 1st target at Aeolis Mons (September 24, 2014). Image:PIA18881-MarsCuriosityRover-PahrumpHillsBedrock-20141109.tif, "Pahrump Hills"

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bedro ...

on Mars - viewed by ''Curiosity'' (November 9, 2014). Image:PIA18880-MarsCuriosityRover-PinkCliffs-20141007.jpg, "Pink Cliffs"

rock outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficia ...

on Mars - viewed by ''Curiosity'' (October 7, 2014). Image:PIA19066-MarsCuriosityRover-AlexanderHillsRock-20141123-Fig1.jpg, "Alexander Hills"

on Mars - viewed by ''Curiosity'' (November 23, 2014). Image:PIA19080-MarsRoverCuriosity-AncientGaleLake-Simulated-20141208.jpg, Ancient Lake fills Gale Crater on Mars (simulated view). Image:100 m of the Murray formation.jpg, Murray formation lakebeds with aeolian(?) erosional fins (October 9, 2016) Image:PIA23138-MarsCuriosityRover-Drills-ClayBearingUnit-20190406.gif, ''Curiosity'' drilled into a " clay-bearing unit". (April 11, 2019) Image:PIA19674-Mars-GaleCrater-SurfaceMaterials-20150619.jpg, Gale crater - surface materials (false colors;

THEMIS In Greek mythology and religion, Themis (; grc, Θέμις, Themis, justice, law, custom) is one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She is the goddess and personification of justice, divine order, f ...

;

2001 Mars Odyssey ''2001 Mars Odyssey'' is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin, with an expected cost for the entire mission of US$297 million. Its mission is to use spectro ...

). Image:Topographic Map of Gale Crater.jpg,

Gale crater Gale is a crater, and probable dry lake, at in the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle on Mars. It is in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5–3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur as ...

with Aeolis Mons rising from the center. ''Curiosity's'' landing area (marked) is in

. Image:Curiosity Cradled by Gale Crater.jpg, Aeolis Mons rises from the middle of Gale - Green dot marks ''Curiosity's'' landing site in

. Image:Mars Science Laboratory landing ellipse reduced.jpg, Gale crater with ''Curiosity's'' landing area within

noted - north is down. Image:Moundshigh.jpg, Aeolis Mons may have formed from the erosion of sediment layers that once filled Gale. Image:PIA16064-Mars Curiosity Rover Treasure Map.jpg, ''Curiosity's'' landing site (green dot) - blue dot marks '' Glenelg Intrigue'' - blue spot marks the base of Mount Sharp - a planned area of study. Image:Curiosity Rover Landing Site - Quadmapping Yellowknife.jpg, ''Curiosity's'' landing site - " Quad Map" includes "Yellowknife" ''Quad 51'' of

in Gale. Image:Mars Curiosity Rover - Yellowknife Landing Site.jpg, ''Curiosity's'' landing site - "Yellowknife" ''Quad 51'' (1-mi-by-1-mi) of

in Gale. Image:PIA15696-HiRISE-MSL-Sol11 2 -br2.jpg, MSL debris field viewed by

HiRISE High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' which has been orbiting and studying Mars since 2006. The 65 kg (143 lb), US$40 million instrument was built under the direction o ...

on August 17, 2012 - parachute is from ''Curiosity''.Mars Science Laboratory: Multimedia-Images
/ref> (3-D
rover
&
parachute
Image:PIA16800-MarsCuriosityRover-MtSharp-ColorVersions-20120823.jpg, Comparison of color versions (raw, natural, white balance) of Aeolis Mons (August 23, 2012). Image:PIA16068 - Mars Curiosity Rover - Aeolis Mons - 20120817.jpg, Aeolis Mons as viewed by ''Curiosity'' (August 8, 2012) ( white balanced image). Image:PIA16105 malin04ano-br2.jpg, Layers at the base of Aeolis Mons - dark rock in inset is same size as ''Curiosity'' ( white balanced image). Image:PIA16134-Mars Curiosity Rover Wheels.jpg, ''Curiosity's''

wheels A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...

- Aeolis Mons is in the background ( MAHLI, September 9, 2012). Image:PIA17085-MarsCuriosityRover-TraverseMap-Sol351-20130801.jpg, First-Year and First-Mil
Traverse Map
of the ''Curiosity'' rover on Mars (August 1, 2013)
3-D
.

References

External links

Google Mars scrollable map
– centered on Aeolis Mons.
Aeolis Mons – ''Curiosity'' Rover "StreetView" (Sol 2 – 08/08/2012) – NASA/JPL – 360° Panorama

Aeolis Mons – ''Curiosity'' Rover Mission Summary – Video (02:37)

Aeolis Mons – HiRise
(South side of mountain)
Aeolis Mons – "Mount Sharp" Oblique (19,663px × 1,452px)

(Zoomable)
small

Aeolis Mons – Gale crater – image/HRSCview

Aeolis Mons – HRSCview
(oblique view looking east)
Aeolis Mons – 7,703px × 2,253px black & white panorama

* Images �
PIA16105PIA16104Color view
* High-resolution overflight videos
#1#2#3#4
(based on

data) of the lower slopes of Mt. Sharp by Seán Doran (se
album
for more) * * * {{Portal bar, Astronomy, Biology, Solar System Aeolis quadrangle Mountains on Mars Gale (crater) Mars Science Laboratory