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Mastcam-Z flight hardware parts preparing for assembly

Mastcam-Z flight hardware parts preparing for assembly
Mastcam-Z flight hardware parts preparing for assembly Mastcam-Z flight hardware, on display inside the clean room at Motiv Space Systems, Inc. (in Pasadena, California) where many parts are being fabricated and tested as of May 29, 2018. Shown here on the left and right sides of the cleanroom bench are the flight zoom lens cam barrels (tall silver cylinders), focus mechanism assemblies (short black cylinders), and optical rails and other smaller parts. Jim Bell

These and other pieces will soon be merged with optics to become zoom lens assemblies that will undergo detailed testing this summer and fall at Motiv, at Malin Space Science Systems, Inc. (in San Diego, California), and at Arizona State University (in Tempe, Arizona).  Then, in the blink of an eye, they’ll be on Mars!