The Curiosity rover has finally reached the sand dunes on Mars that have so far only been looked at from afar. Not only that, but the rover managed to snap a number of images along the way, providing a detailed look at the dunes on Mars.

The photos are part of an up-close investigation of the sand dunes, which are part of the lower portion of a layered mountain on the red planet.

As part of the study, the rover will continue to explore the "Bagnold Dunes" that lie on the side of Mount Sharp, and it will scoop up samples for analysis along the way. These samples will be analyzed using the rover's onboard lab equipment.

The image that has been released by NASA so far is a composite of a collection of photos taken from the rover's Mast Camera on Nov. 27. This is the same instrument that captured images of the sand dunes from a distance, which were revealed by NASA back in August.

During the rest of its visit, Curiosity will look at how much the area has changed over time, as well as gathering samples. In fact, NASA has observed that the edges of the dunes move as much as three feet per year on Earth.