Len Augsburger writes:

Engineers testing the Curiosity Mars rover are wrapping up a series of robot arm calibration and motion tests before resuming a slow trek toward a nearby rock formation this weekend, on the lookout for a suitable stone to reach out and touch in an initial round of "contact science," officials said today.

NASA unveiled striking new photographs Wednesday, including a panorama shot by the MAHLI camera at near ground level showing the undercarriage of the rover with its eventual target -- Mount Sharp -- rising in the background. Other photos showed covers opening and closing on the rover's upper deck exposing inlets where soil samples eventually will be deposited into a sophisticated analytical instrument.

The MAHLI camera also captured an extreme closeup view of a 1909 penny that serves as a calibration target. Tiny dust grains blown up onto the spacecraft by its landing rockets are clearly visible. The resolution of the closeup image is 25 microns per pixel. If the camera can be positioned close enough to a potential target, that resolution could improve to 14 microns per pixel.

To read the complete article, see:Robot arm in good shape, Mars rover set to resume trek(news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57511644-76/robot-arm-in-good-shape
-mars-rover-set-to-resume-trek/)

To read a NASA page sent by Philip Mernick, see:Lincoln Penny on Mars in Camera's Calibration Target(www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16131.html)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:IS A 1909 VDB LINCOLN CENT GOING TO MARS?(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n07a25.html)