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PIA13584: Test Close-Up of Earth Cobble by Mars Camera
This close-up view of a stone found in San Diego was taken by a testing twin -- the 'life test unit' -- of the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory.
 Target Name:  Earth
 Mission:  Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) 
 Instrument:  MAHLI 
 Product Size:  1190 x 1580 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA13584.tif (5.647 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA13584.jpg (306.6 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:

Click here for figure 1 of PIA13584
Fig. 1
Click on image for larger annotated version

This close-up view of a stone found in San Diego was taken by a testing twin -- the "life test unit" -- of the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory. The image covers a patch of rock surface about 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) wide, with the shadow of the camera falling across part of the photographed area.

As a demonstration of how MAHLI's adjustable focus may be used on Mars, this image can be compared with PIA13583, taken from farther enough away to see this entire rock and three others. The inscribed rectangle on Fig. 1 indicates the portion of the rock covered in the close-up view.

MAHLI is mounted at the end of the robotic arm on the Mars Science Laboratory mission's Curiosity rover. By placing the camera at different distances from a target, researchers can obtain images showing broader context as well as finer detail.

This image was taken outside, under natural sunlight. The shadowing was intentional to assess the effect of sunlight and shadow on the acquisition and processing of MAHLI images. The rock is gray rhyolite. Though collected in California, it originated in a volcanic eruption in Mexico.

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

Image Addition Date:
2010-11-16