Mast Camera (Mastcam) | ||||||||||
The Mast Camera, or Mastcam for short, will take color images and color video footage of the Martian terrain. The images can be stitched together to create panoramas of the landscape around the rover. Like the cameras on the Mars Exploration Rovers that landed on the red planet in 2004, the Mastcam design consists of two camera systems mounted on a mast extending upward from the Mars Science Laboratory rover deck (body). The Mastcam will be used to study the Martian landscape, rocks, and soils; to view frost and weather phenomena; and to support the driving and sampling operations of the rover. New Capabilities Several new features on the Mastcam distinguish it from previous rover cameras:
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