Curiosity Blog, Sols 5016–5021: Fantastic Minerals and How To Detect Them

What happened

Curiosity created the image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), a close-up camera located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, and an onboard focusing process that merges multiple images of the same target at different focus positions, creating a composite that brings as many features into focus as possible. The features are about 3-4 millimeters across (about 0.12-0.16 inches) and about 1 millimeter thick (about 0.04 inches).

Curiosity performed the focus merge on Sept. 16, 2026 — Sol 5016, or Martian day 5,016 of the Mars Science Laboratory Mission — at 02:14:02 UTC.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Written by Lucy Lim, Planetary Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Earth planning date: Friday, Sept. The disc-like shapes could be created by the growth habits of a specific crystalline mineral that is known to grow into similar shapes, or they could be bits of a harder rock layer that broke up and collected here.