New hi-def images from Mars
September 10, 2012 at 9:01 pm
(This post was last modified: September 10, 2012 at 9:02 pm by Cyberman.)
Mission controllers have finally let NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover flip open the dust cap on its hi-def camera, allowing for some of the sharpest images yet.
http://news.discovery.com/space/photos-m...gn=fbdsc17
Quote:[M]ission controllers sent the command for Curiosity to flip open the dust cap in front of the robotic arm-mounted Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). Until now, the semi-transparent dust cap has only allowed MAHLI to make out fuzzy shapes -- although it did a great job imaging Curiosity's "head" and it is also famous for capturing Curiosity's first color photograph.
But now, the true clarity of MAHLI has been unleashed, allowing us some of the most beautifully detailed images of NASA's rover in her natural habitat.
[. . .]
MAHLI was designed and built by Malin Space Science Systems and is analogous to a geologist's hand lens -- only a lot more sophisticated. Its high-resolution system can focus and magnify objects as small as 12.5 micrometers (that's smaller than the width of a human hair!).
http://news.discovery.com/space/photos-m...gn=fbdsc17
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