At 15:55:10 UTC, 15:27:38 local solar time, Mastcam Left took this close-up image of the Martian soil.
The original photo was subjected to white balance and a slight increase in color saturation and micro-contrast.
At the top you can see a couple of porous-looking rocks “pockmarked” by greenish spots, similar to those observed in some photos of Opportunity but with a less intense coloration.
But “the highlight” are the footprints left by the rover itself. The traces are impressed in an extraordinarily sharp way and in the areas where the wheel has exerted more pressure, the ground appears smooth and compact as if it were soft clay!
In this area the ground looks much more like wet earth rather than just sand.
HD processed image: https://image.ibb.co/csr1Ux/Curiosity_Sol2017.jpg
Original image: https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=2017ML0106410000800171E01_DXXX&s=2017
This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.