Washington, Oct. 9 (ANI): An instrument that is on NASA's Curiosity rover has sent back an ultra high-resolution photograph of a penny that the rover carried to Mars.
The coin was photographed by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) aboard Curiosity in northern Gale crater on Mars.
The penny, a 1909 VDB penny minted in Philadelphia during the first year that Lincoln cents became available, is part of the MAHLI calibration target and came from Earth.
The images were acquired on Oct. 2, on sol 411 -- the 411th Martian day-of the mission.
At 13.9 micrometers per pixel, this is the highest resolution image that the MAHLI can acquire, R. Aileen Yingst, Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist and deputy Principal Investigator for MAHLI, said.
This image was obtained as part of a test; it was the first time that the rover's robotic arm placed the MAHLI close enough to a target to obtain MAHLI's highest-possible resolution. (ANI)
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