Gravel-covered_martian_surface.jpg


Summary

Description
English: This full-resolution color image from NASA's Curiosity Rover shows the gravel-covered surface of Mars. It was taken by the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) several minutes after Curiosity touched down on Mars.

The camera is about 30 inches (70 centimeters) from the surface as the rover sits on the ground. The image pixel scale is about 0.02 inches (0.5 millimeters), but the camera is slightly out of focus at this distance, so the actual ground scale is about 0.06 inches (1.5 millimeters). A sliver of sunlight passing through the structure of the rover illuminates the surface. The largest rock fragment in the image is about 2 inches (5 centimeters) long. Most are much smaller. A rover wheel is visible at the top left.

This is the 1,008th image that MARDI took. The original image from MARDI has been geometrically corrected to look flat. Curiosity landed inside of a crater known as Gale Crater.
Date
Source http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16018
Author NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Licensing

Public domain This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA . NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted ". (See Template:PD-USGov , NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy .)
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8 August 2012