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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Windjana drill hole at night, Curiosity sol 628

Windjana drill hole at night, Curiosity sol 628
Windjana drill hole at night, Curiosity sol 628 After drilling at Windjana, Curiosity used MAHLI's flashlights to image the interior of the drill hole at night. On the far wall of the drill hole are seven black dots, the marks of ChemCam laser shots. This image is actually a composite of many MAHLI images at different focus positions. Such "focus merging" is performed automatically onboard the rover, reducing the amount of data that needs to be sent to Earth: only one focus-merged image is returned, rather than a dozen or so images focused at different depths. NASA / JPL / MSSS / Emily Lakdawalla