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Space

Mars 2020 rover cameras get eye exams to hunt life on the Red Planet

14 August 2019

Mars camera

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Photograph NASA/JPL-Caltech

HUMANS aren’t the only ones who need eye exams – cameras do too. Here, a camera on the Mars 2020 rover is being put through its paces at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Without good vision, the rover won’t be able to answer key questions about Martian geology and history, particularly whether life existed there in the past.

The Mars 2020 team uses boards covered in dots to ensure the cameras meet the required accuracy and resolution standards. The boards are placed at several distances ranging from 1 to 40 metres from the rover to see how…

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