From: Andy Soos, ENN
Published November 1, 2011 05:42 PM

Interacting with Mars



With this technology what is being done is taking data that's usually looked at on flat maps and computer screens and rendering it, making visual objects in a way that allow users to see to understand things better. This can be done with any data whether on Earth Mars, or Io that are generally obtained through NASA and making it into 3D visualizations you can interact with directly.

The University of California is spearheading this particular effort. They have the CAVE.

One of the main goals for the Mars Science Laboratory mission is to characterize the ancient environment on mars and understand whether or not it could have supported life. They plan to zoom into Gale Crater and a nearby canyon as of their first studied objects.

Gale is a crater on Mars, near the border of the lowlands of Elysium Planitia. It is 154 km in diameter and believed to be about 3.5 to 3.8 billion years old.

An unusual feature of Gale is an enormous mound of debris around its central peak, rising 5.5 km above the northern crater floor and 4.5 km above the southern crater floor - slightly taller than the southern rim of the crater itself. The mound is composed of layered material and may have been laid down over a period of around 2 billion years. The origin of this mound is not known with certainty, but research suggests it's the eroded remnant of sedimentary layers that once filled the crater completely, possibly originally deposited on a lake bed.

For further information: http://www.ucop.edu/sciencetoday/article/26581

Photo: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/PIA08440-Mars_Rover_Spirit-Volcanic_Rock_Fragment.jpg

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

2017©. Copyright Environmental News Network