Calibration Target on Curiosity for Camera on Rover’s Arm

The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera at the end of the robotic arm of NASA's Curiosity rover will use a calibration target attached to a shoulder joint of the arm.

This image combines a close-up of the calibration target with a view of the rover to illustrate the target's location on the rover. The MAHLI calibration target includes a penny, color chips, a metric standardized bar graphic, and (just below the penny) a stair-step pattern for depth calibration.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission launched on Nov. 26, 2011. It will deliver the rover Curiosity to Gale Crater on Mars in August 2012. With MAHLI and nine other science instruments, Curiosity will investigate whether the area has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.

Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, supplied MAHLI and three other cameras for the mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory mission for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington, and built Curiosity.