Like once you takes a selfie, Curiosity’s robotic arm is often not seen. Plus, these aren’t only one picture, however a composite of many.
Curiosity took this distinctive low-angle selfie shortly after drilling a rock referred to as Buckskin. A portion of the rover’s robotic arm is seen (of the three constructions that stick up from the highest of the rover, it’s the light-colored shaft within the center), however seems oddly reduce off as a result of the remainder of the arm was not proven within the many photographs used to create this mosaic. Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
When Curiosity takes a selfie, the place is the shaft that holds the digicam? It’s by no means seen, just like the digicam was positioned on a tripod and a timer set. Was it edited out?
Bob Discovered
Indian Harbour, Nova Scotia
To take a selfie (just like the one on pages 24–25 in our September 2022 problem), Curiosity makes use of the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) digicam on its multijointed robotic arm. The approach is roughly the identical as when a human takes a selfie: Curiosity holds out its arm to snap the pic.
There are two explanation why the arm holding the digicam isn’t seen. First, take into consideration how you’re taking a selfie with a telephone: You do precisely because the rover does, holding the digicam out together with your arm prolonged. Your arm doesn’t seem within the selfie as a result of it’s exterior the view of the lens (under or behind it). Equally, in lots of circumstances Curiosity’s arm is exterior the sphere of view of the lens.
Admittedly, it’s a bit extra sophisticated for a rover to take a selfie than for a human, and this introduces the second cause why the arm isn’t seen. For us people, selfies are a one-step course of: Snap a pic and we’re executed. However Curiosity’s digicam can’t seize the complete rover in a single shot, even from the tip of its 7-foot-long (2.1 meters) arm. As a substitute, the rover should take dozens of photographs to suit its total physique and background into the view. (This course of can take an hour or extra!)
To take action, the arm strikes across the rover to snap photographs from many angles. In a few of these uncooked photographs, small parts of the arm could also be seen because of the angle of the photograph. Nonetheless, the rover takes so many photographs that when NASA employees on Earth sew them collectively right into a last, single selfie, they will select to make use of solely parts of the pictures that don’t embrace the arm. So sure, in circumstances the place bits of the arm would possibly seem within the picture, it has been selectively edited out of the ultimate end result.
Alison Klesman
Senior Editor
