Magnifying glass on Mars in hands of researcher from Tucson institute

Like any good geologist, R. Aileen Yingst has a trusty hand lens she uses to get a closer look at specimens in the field. Her lens just happens to be stuck on Mars.

The senior scientist from the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute was recently placed in charge of the Mars Hand Lens Imager — or MAHLI for short — onboard NASA’s Curiosity rover, which is closing in on its 10th anniversary on the Martian surface.

MAHLI provides close-up views, down to the individual grains that make up rocks and dust on the Red Planet. The images it captures reveal the geologic history of Mars and help earthbound researchers select samples for further investigation.

Early in the mission, scientists used the lens to identify a deposit of mudstone and confirm that a lake once existed in Mars’ Gale crater.

“One of our major mission goals was to find a habitable environment — obviously a lake qualifies — and MAHLI provided confirming data of habitability at that former Gale crater lake,” said Yingst in a written statement.

“Every grain has a story, and it is MAHLI’s job to resolve the various grain characteristics — size, shape, color, texture — to be able to tell that story.”

The 1.5-inch-wide camera takes color images of features smaller than the width of a human hair. It’s equipped with both white and ultraviolet lights, allowing it to operate day or night and spot fluorescent properties in minerals formed by water.

Yingst said the device was specifically designed to identify silt-sized grains like those carried and deposited in ancient rivers and lakes.

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She has worked on MAHLI since 2005. Before being promoted to principal investigator for the project, she served as deputy PI.

“Moving up to PI means the buck stops with me,” she said. “I’m responsible for the MAHLI investigation. I’m responsible for ensuring that we meet our science investigation goals, that the instrument is safe and healthy — or as safe and healthy as it can be on Mars — and that we adequately support the entire mission, including providing observations requested by other instruments or hardware.”

Curiosity was launched on Nov. 26, 2011, and landed inside Gale crater on Aug. 6, 2012. Its original, two-year mission was extended indefinitely in December 2012.

Since then, the car-sized, nuclear-powered rover has methodically covered more than 16 miles of terrain.

Yingst, who currently lives in Maine, replaces retiring principal investigator Ken Edgett. Her work on MAHLI is funded through the Planetary Science Institute by Malin Space Science Systems, which is under contract with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Now that she’s in charge, Yingst said she plans to stay the course charted by her predecessor, though there could be room to take a few calculated risks with MAHLI from time to time.

“We’re in a place now in the mission where every day on Mars is a gift — we expected to have run out of power by now,” she said. “So for very compelling science, I’d like to see us stretch a little and give the science team more room to acquire important images.”