At 05:31:15 UTC, 12:20:48 local solar time, the Mastcam Left of Curiosity takes its own tracks left on the soil of Mars.
In this processing, the original photo has been treated to enhance the chromatic differences, obviously related to differences in composition.
You can see that the traces show a certain compactness of the soil, almost like a wet but frozen ground.
I want to remember that Mars has recently passed the point of its orbit that brings it further away from the Sun, a time when usually Mars develops a greater cloud activity.
In fact, the greater distance from the Sun, regardless of the local season, results in a lowering of the average planetary temperature by about 20°C relative to the point of maximum proximity to the Sun.
Obviously this lowering of the average temperature also involves a greater ease in reaching the saturation point of water vapor in the Martian atmosphere and consequently to a greater ease in the formation of clouds, as amply documented by the same Curiosity (see previous posts…)
HD processed image: https://image.ibb.co/cUE0h7/Mast_Cam_Sol2003.jpg
Original image: https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=2003ML0105160000306489E01_DXXX&s=2003
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