Complex cameras to show us Mars like we’ve never been before

Mars Curiosity has finally landed on the Mars surface and it’s substantiated by some enormous shots taken by advanced cameras carried on the rover. Even so, Mars Curiosity rover is carrying two complex cameras that have not been used thus far. These cameras, part of the Mastcam System, will start clicking and sending back color, multispectral color, stereo and high-definition views of the terrain in the Gale Crater. However, to see those images, we need to wait until next week.

Created by Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS), the two cameras flaunt state-of-the-art specifications. Both cameras have camera heads with mechanical focus and autofocus capability to ensure better focus even when the images are clicked over six feet to infinity. While one camera features 100mm focal length, f/10 lens, the other flaunts 34mm focal length, f8 lens. A Bayer Patter Filter CCD is there to enable these cameras to obtain natural color pictures.

Moreover, a filter wheel covers different narrow visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Both cameras can record 720p high-definition video at about 10fps. These cameras can take colored image mosaics of the full 360-degree landscape around the rover within an hour. Thanks to large internal 8 gigabytes data storage capability of rover, the images can be stored indefinitely.

Via: Dvice

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