Mastcam-Z looks at the calibration goal

Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA’s Perseverance Rover, captured its calibration target for the first time on February 20, 2021, the second March day, or sol, of Perseverance’s mission. The Mastcam-Z primary color and gray scale calibration target (the colorful circular object to the right in the foreground) and the secondary calibration target of the camera (the small colorful L-bracket just below the primary target) are visible. The Mastcam-Z team uses these targets to calibrate images of the Mars terrain to adjust for brightness and dust in the atmosphere during the day.

The white square plate with a grid of circular discs mounted on the back of the rover is the calibration target for the SuperCam instrument. To the left of the picture, the dusty and rocky Mars surface is visible on the landing site of the Perseverance Rover in the Jezero crater. For more details on the Mastcam-Z calibration targets, see the article “Mars in full color” on the Mastcam-Z public website at https://mastcamz.asu.edu/mars-in-full-color.

An important goal for Perseverance’s mission to Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the geology and climate of the planet, pave the way for the exploration of the Red Planet by man, and be the first mission to collect Mars rock and regolith and place it in the closet.

The Mars 2020 mission is part of NASA’s reconnaissance approach Moon to Mars, which includes Artemis missions to the moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

Subsequent missions by NASA in collaboration with ESA (European Space Agency) would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cast samples from the surface and return to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mastcam-Z investigation is led and managed by Arizona State University in Tempe, in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California, on the design, manufacture, testing and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Neils Bohr. Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, manufacture and testing of the calibration targets.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California has built and managed the operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover for NASA.

For more information on the mission, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020

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