The Mars Science Laboratory Engineering Cameras

Abstract

The imager will offer alternative ways of studying earthquakes and improve early warning systems.

Observational evidence of a suppressed planetary boundary layer in northern Gale Crater, Mars as seen by the Navcam instrument onboard the Mars Science Laboratory rover

“…There are a total of four cameras mounted on the remote sensing mast: one pair is used for stereo imaging while the other pair serves as a backup. A full description of the imagers produced for MSL is provided in Maki et al (2012) while Maki et al (2003) describe the performance of the MER-derived optics used in Navcam.…”

Towards Camera-LIDAR Fusion-Based Terrain Modelling for Planetary Surfaces: Review and Analysis

“…The MER vision system [16] has provided sufficient basis for the follow-up Mars missions, such as the imaging software on the MSL rover (Curiosity),which has relatively advanced image processing capabilities (e.g., manual and autoexposure, histogram generation, spatial downsampling, spatial subframing, shutter subtraction, bad pixel correction, stereo processing, image metadata collection, etc.) and is set to explore over a range of 5 by 20 km [17]. …”

“…It has therefore been considered as the best trade-off between cost, risk, and performance for 3-D terrain perception on board planetary rovers [5]. Figure 2 presents some features and performance measures of the 3-D perception systems on board different planetary rovers [17,20]. Figure 3 presents plots of the stereo range error for multiple engineering cameras on board the MSL rover based on literature from [17].…”

“…Figure 2 presents some features and performance measures of the 3-D perception systems on board different planetary rovers [17,20]. Figure 3 presents plots of the stereo range error for multiple engineering cameras on board the MSL rover based on literature from [17]. There is a significant decrease in the accuracy of the estimated depth with the increase in distance from the camera, which may not be deemed suitable for long range terrain modelling and perception.…”

Gale crater and impact processes – Curiosity’s first 364 Sols on Mars

“…The NavCam and other engineering cameras provide the most comprehensive view of the areas around the rover (Maki et al, 2011). The vertically projected NavCam mosaics produced by the MSL Operational Product Generation Subsystem (OPGS) group (Helen Mortensen lead) provided essential data to examine isolated blocks and small crater forms at the decimeter to meter scale to evaluate their circularity.…”