So, it seems that NASA has sent a 1909 VDB cent to mars to be used for a size reference in photographs. I think this is pretty cool and just wanted to share http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia15285.html http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=3804
I was just logging in to post about that.... really neat to see they chose a 1909 instead of something newer. Looks like nice details on teh coin, but it looks cleaned.
It probably was deliberately harshly cleaned. That way they can monitor changes to in in the Martian atmosphere. Although at the low temperatures there the lander probably won't last long enough to see changes. Not for a long long long time.
I love it!! As a geologist, I use coins all the time for scale in my photos. Once, I was showing some of my field photos to my daughter, and she asked me why I was taking different pictures of the same coin?! I like to use coins struck in the same year as my photos, and for contrast, I sometimes use our bimetallic coin. Here is a recent photo of mine, of calcite (v. spar) crystals on saddle dolomite, from Northwest Territories. Thanks for such a fascinating thread.
Update: I saw this on CNN and thought I'd pass it along, a picture of the 1909 cent on Mars: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16132.html NASA notes that "The new MAHLI images show that the calibration target has a coating of Martian dust on it. This is unsurprising -- the target was facing directly toward the plume of dust stirred up by the sky crane's descent engines during the final phase of the 6 August 2012 landing. " So, I'm thinking with the dust sprayed all over it from the plume, the slab would read "Details Environmental Damage"
Only rich brats will afford to buy the coin from Mars, but I hope Smithsonian will keep it as museum artifact. I think they will.
I hope NASA shows pics of it periodically. It would be interesting to see what the Martian atmosphere does to copper.
