PIA16129: Martian Ground Seen by Arm Camera With and Without Dust Cover (Thumbnails)
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
 Spacecraft:  Curiosity
 Instrument:  MAHLI
 Product Size:  573 x 144 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA16129.tif (247.8 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA16129.jpg (13.73 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

As the last step in a series of inspections of the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) aboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, this camera's reclosable dust cover was opened for the first time during the 33rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Sept. 8, 2012), enabling MAHLI to take the center image of this set. The other two images presented here for comparison were taken before the cover was opened (left) and after the cover was closed again (right).

All three images here are thumbnails, approximately one-eighth the resolution of the full-size MAHLI images. The full-size images corresponding to the two cover-closed thumbnails were not yet received on Sept. 8. All three images were taken from the same position: about 5 feet (1.5 meters) above the ground, facing down. The patch of ground shown in each image is about 34 inches (86 centimeters) across.

Comparison of these cover-closed and cover-open images shows that haziness in MAHLI images taken on previous sols was due to a thin film of dust that settled on the dust cover during Curiosity's landing.

The main purpose of Curiosity's MAHLI camera is to acquire close-up, high-resolution views of rocks and soil at the rover's Gale Crater field site. The camera is capable of focusing on any target at distances of about 0.8 inch (2.1 centimeters) to infinity.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2012-09-09