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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Tiny grains of Martian sand

Tiny grains of Martian sand
Tiny grains of Martian sand This is the highest-resolution photo that Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) has taken to date. It was taken on sol 1241 (February 2, 2016) with the MAHLI front window only 24.8 millimeters away from the surface of the sand. The two prongs on MAHLI were only 5.8 millimeters away from the sand. It shows grains that Curiosity sieved from a scooped sample of Namib dune sand; these grains were small enough to pass through Curiosity's 150-micron sieve (that is, the grains are smaller than 150 microns in diameter). NASA / JPL / MSSS