14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, recently released this highly detailed image of Curiosity's left wheels. The photo was collected using the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) instrument on the rover's robotic arm.
NASA experts say that the image was snapped on September 9 (Martian day 34). It shows the wheels on the left side of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity, and is pieced together from two different MAHLI images.
In the distance, the gentle slopes of Mount Sharp are clearly visible. MAHLI was developed specifically for collecting close-up, high-resolution images of Martian rocks, and snapping these two photos was part of a weeklong series of tests meant to assess its performances.
The camera can focus at distances ranging between 2.1 centimeters (0.8 inch) and infinity. As it's mounted on a 2.1-meter (7-foot) robotic arm, it can be used to image the rover from multiple angles.