Curiosity’s MAHLI has made great achievements over the past few weeks, but what makes this piece of machinery so effective? The purpose of this camera is to facilitate scientists with the ability to distinguish minerals. MAHLI has many features like our very own digital cameras. Some of these features include: color, auto focus, and great image resolution. MAHLI’s camera has dust cover mechanisms. There is a single drive motor that adjusts the focus of the camera and opens/closes the dust cover of the lens. Undesired infrared radiation is blocked by a coating that is on the inside of the sapphire window of the camera. This blocking mechanism helps keeps away any radiation that would make it difficult for scientists to establish the identity of the minerals. The MAHLI has been such an effective tool that scientists are looking to use it for the following:
•Closeups of rocks
•Night imaging
•Observing seasonal frost; monitoring changes in frost over night
•Drill hole imaging
•Sample observation imaging
•Acquiring video sequences (e.g., grain movement on surface)
•Rover problem diagnosis imaging
Engineering group: Katherine A. Garcia and Jesus Bohorquez.
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