In our article “This is how Perseverance balances its images from Mars “ we explained how NASA’s Mars robot does to image the planet in the correct color. How it works is a science in itself, but on the robot there are several tools to calibrate its visual instruments.
NASA now also continues to share Perseverance’s new adventures. In a newly released picture from April 6, we get to see the Mars robot together with the robot helicopter Ingenuity. The selfie was taken by the camera WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering), which is located at the far end of Perseverance’s robot arm.
The final selfie image is created from 62 individual images that are put together after being taken in a sequence. Through the exact adjustment of the robot arm together with sensor and calibration data, the images can be taken from exactly the same place but with different angles. The result is a 112 megapixel image.
Creates Panorama
In February last year, the other Mars robot Curiosity also photographed itself in the same way, but then at the same time as it took still pictures with its second camera to show how the actual photography went. In the sequence at the top of the article, you can see how this is done.
The principle of how Perserverance is similar, because the Mars robots work in the same way. Curiosity’s selfie required 86 photos to be put together.
Are you interested in space photography? You will find more articles in our space photography department kamerabild.se/rymdfoto.
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