MAHLI view of "Gillespie Lake," a coarse sandstone on the edge of Yellowknife Bay, sol 132

Filed under pretty pictures, Mars, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)

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Curiosity held its MAHLI camera within 3 centimeters of a ledge on sol 132 to examine its grains up close. The investigation revealed the rock to be a coarse sandstone, made up of cemented grains of a range of sizes. The biggest grains at lower left are about 2 millimeters long, which is larger than sand; technically, they are classified as "granules." The whole view is about 4.3 centimeters wide; at full resolution, it is about 26.1 microns per pixel.

NASA / JPL / MSSS

Here is an annotated version of the image. Also of interest is this MAHLI image, showing the same area of the rock from a greater distance. Here and here are Hazcam views of the position of the arm for both the closer and farther-away photos, and here and here are Navcam views.

Original image data dated on or about December 19, 2012