Dramatic virtual flyovers of NASA鈥檚 two Mars rover landing sites have been made using 3D imagery from the agency鈥檚 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The flyovers give a first taste of the probe鈥檚 astoundingly precise 3D mapping abilities and may help the Opportunity rover find a safe path into the yawning chasm of Victoria crater.
The images were made using the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet, MRO鈥檚 High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE).
The three-dimensional information is obtained by taking pairs of images from slightly different vantage points as the spacecraft orbits the Red Planet.
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This data is used to create 3D models of the planet, allowing virtual flyover animations to be produced. 鈥淭his is close to what you鈥檇 see hang gliding over the area,鈥� says Randolph Kirk of the United States Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona, who leads the 3D mapping team.
Swoop down
In , we circle around the 800-metre-wide Victoria crater, swooping down past a virtual Opportunity rover and into the crater itself, then skim over the dunes on its floor and climb up the opposite crater wall.
In the , we soar across the cratered plains that the Spirit rover spent months trekking across, eventually floating by the rugged Columbia hills, where the rover is currently wandering.
Craters that are not obvious in ordinary, flat images of these plains stand out clearly in the 3D imagery. 鈥淭here鈥檚 an incredible amount of detail in here at the scale of metres that we鈥檝e never been able to see topographically,鈥� Kirk says.
Entrance points
The camera can reveal height variations of just 20 centimetres. 鈥淲hen you consider that we鈥檙e doing this from 300 kilometres up, [that] is just astonishing, to me at least,鈥� Kirk says.
The rover team has already used the data to identify several shallow-sloped alcoves leading into Victoria crater that could make ideal entrance points for Opportunity, which is slowly making its way around the crater鈥檚 rim.
The team hopes the 3D imagery capabilities will also help scientists understand what causes gullies, which many scientists believe were carved by water.
The flyovers were presented on Monday at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas, US.
Mars Rovers 鈥� Mars is full of surprises, learn more in our continually updated .
