Thread: New Mars Cameras

Assuming all goes well I will be taking pictures on Mars with these cameras in less than 1 year. Big "if" because launch and landing are very high risk.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover. All six MSSS-constructed pieces of hardware are visible in this image: The two Mastcams and their calibration target, the MAHLI and its calibration target, and the MARDI.



The remote sensing mast. The two MSSS-built Mastcams are located beneath the white box at the top of the mast. The width of the white box at the top is about 0.4 meter (16 inches). The Mastcams are also capable of acquiring 720p high definition video at a rate of about 7 frames per second, as well as stereo (3D) images of the terrain explored by the MSL rover.



Left: The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), which will acquire color close-up images of rocks and surface materials at the MSL landing site at a range of spatial scales with resolution as high as 13.9 micrometers per pixel. Right: The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mars Descent Imager (MARDI), which will acquire hundreds of natural color images at a rate of 4 frames per second during MSL’s descent to the martian surface in August/September 2012.

holy fucking shit. what was your involvement in this project?

Ummm... Whaaaah?

Cool! Tell us more!

Will these pictures have MS Paint mouse scrawled-captions? I sure fucking hoping so.

Does this mean we'll get a high-res photo of Megatron?

I'm having a hard time determining scale in the first image.
What are the dimensions of one of the wheels?

Looks like a cool project to be involved with "Maggots in Space!"
Good Luck

Originally Posted by DeathVan

I'm having a hard time determining scale in the first image.
What are the dimensions of one of the wheels?

Looks like a cool project to be involved with "Maggots in Space!"
Good Luck

there's a gowned up dude sitting in the picture
see if you can find him

Originally Posted by acinpdx

there's a gowned up dude sitting in the picture
see if you can find him

thanks Dr. Science, missed that...whew

Originally Posted by DeathVan

thanks Dr. Science, missed that...whew

There are at least 2 dudes in the suits...

That thing is BADASS

Whoah, missed this the first time -- way cool! Tell us more!

I want one. Cool, Can you tell us more about the optics?

Thanks for the interest guys. Yes it is big, about the size of a mini cooper.

Regarding my role, I operate the cameras http://www.msss.com/operations/ . The company I work for designed and built them. JPL designed and will operates the rover and manages the project for NASA. If all goes well it will launch after Thanksgiving and land on Mars Aug 2012.

Oh, and we are hiring:
http://www.msss.com/about-us/jobs.php

Originally Posted by mock1

Can you tell us more about the optics?

a couple papers:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.3251343
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/AO.50.005108


Sample image from the descent camera that will take pictures (video) during landing:


Sample MAHLI image shows a 26.2 by 19.7 mm (1.03 by 0.78 inches) area on a rock imaged at a scale of 16.4 microns (0.0006 inch) per pixel. The rock is a dense zinc ore from Franklin, New Jersey; the red mineral is zincite (zinc oxide, ZnO4). The 1 mm scale bar equals about 0.04 inch. The picture was taken during MAHLI camera head post-vibration testing on 3 September 2008.


MAHLI’s also has white light & UV LEDs. So can take pictures in the dark like:


Sample MCAM 33 Bayer Color , this is the view from my office:


Sample MCAM 100 bayer color:

fkna thats cool

wow. that color looks incredibly accurate.

Congrats on the successful launch.

I look forward to seeing what you've got going come August.

-still blown away by the size of this vehicle

Good Luck

Super freaking cool!

Watching that launch was crazy... the payload shroud was HUDGE!

I eagerly await the landing!!!

Thanks guys!

I went out for the launch over Thanksgiving weekend. Watched from the VIP area, located next to the Saturn 5 building. Some photos below from people on the team.

View from far away the night before:


Up close:


Lift off:


View from the VIP viewing area:




Atlas and Centaur both did their jobs and MSL is in Cruise to Mars.

Below is a photo we took on the way to Mars mid April with the Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). It is dark in the cruise vehicle and aeroshell, so we turned on the white LEDs. We did not want to move the focus mechanism prior to landing, so it is out of focus, but you can make out the LED reflection and parts of the rover.


Rotated and annotated:


Photo someone took during ATLO to show context:

You should have put a little Buzz Lightyear in there to photograph on the way up. I suppose you could photochop one into the picture.

This is awesome. Can't wait to see pics in the fall.

~10.5 days to go:

How fkna stoked are you 406!

Can't wait!

Wow. Is there a betting line on this thing landing? Can't wait to see the footy.