curiosity rover Archives - Argyll Free Press

NASA’s “Destination: Mars” is one of the most engaging combinations between virtual reality and space travel, allowing the user to take a tour of Mars with none other by Dr. Buzz Aldrin, the second person on the moon.

Viewers will also be guided by Erisa Hines, driver on the Curiosity Mars Rover, who will present the vehicle as well as real sites on Mars where important discoveries were made.

The virtual experience is based on imagery sent back to Earth by the Curiosity Rover, NASA’s car-sized robot which landed on Mars in August 2012.

The exhibition “Destination: Mars” is based on OnSight, a software tool co-created by Microsoft and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the Mars rover mission operations. Thanks to OnSight, NASA scientists have gained a more intuitive understanding of the area explored by Mars rovers.

Users who take the tour via virtual reality headset see exactly what scientists do when they look at imagery sent by the Curiosity Rover; they can also interact with a 3D simulation of the Martian surface and conduct science experiments from a first-person perspective.

Before OnSight, scientists working on rover operations were required to “examine Mars imagery on a computer screen, and make inferences about what they are seeing.”

Thanks to advancements in virtual reality, research is now done in a new way, allowing scientists to see clearly details of a planet over 100 million miles away from Earth – while sitting in their offices.

Dave Lavery, program executive for Solar System Exploration at NASA Headquarters, said that OnSight has “fundamentally changed our perception of Mars, and how we understand the Mars environment surrounding the rover.”

This is not the first time augmented reality has paired up with NASA to advance science. Microsoft has previously sent their AR headsets HoloLens to the International Space Station, where astronaut Scott Kelly tested it during his stay abroad the station.

Augmented reality creates a mixed reality experience by overlaying digital images on top of the actual environment surrounding you. After Kelly returned to Earth last month, he said VR has “a lot of potential when it comes to space exploration.”

Besides strategically partnering with Microsoft, NASA has also done the right thing involving Dr. Buzz Aldrin in the “Destination: Mars” project. He has proved to be one of the most convincing advocates for the efforts of landing humans on Mars.

With virtual reality, sending humans to Mars in the 2030s can become a more inclusive experience, allowing the public to follow the experience the astronauts will have as they study the Martian surface.
Image Source: Mars-One

Far from being a Sci-Fi 3D rendered imagining of it, but a real short snippet of Mars is now available on YouTube in 360 degree view video. This video has been pieced together from several images that were taken by the Curiosity Rover on Mars on December 18^th of 2015. The video was released by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and depicts the surface of the red planet as it is near the Namib Dune.

Cracked ground, sand dunes and Mount Sharp await the user to witness a scenery that is not so different from what you would expect on our own planet. With the only possible exception being that you would think that kind of scenery is the result of scorching temperatures, whereas Mars barely exceeds 70 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) during summertime at the equator.

The images that form the video were captured on what was Curiosity’s 1,197^th Martian day (sol – term used for solar days) on the planet and gives anyone the chance to experience the way Mars would look if you were mounted atop the rover.

The Curiosity is a car-sized rover that was originally launched off of the surface of the earth on November 26^th, 2011 and only reached the surface of Mars on Earth day August 6^th, 2012. Ever since, it has been travelling across the plains of the planet, studying various rock formations and climate conditions in order to prepare mankind for its own descent on the planet – whenever that will be.

The Curiosity rover is equipped with a multitude of cameras and instruments that allow it to do more than just feed images and video of the surface of Mars. Firstly, it uses a high resolution camera to look for features of interest, it has an inbuilt infrared laser that can examine the rock elemental composition and even transform it into an advanced study via a microscope and X-ray spectrometer.

Along with the multitude of navigational cams, environmental monitoring stations, hazard avoidance cameras and the mast camera, Curiosity also holds various in-depth study tools that can quickly determine the nature of elements found in the soil, determine potentially unsafe zones where radiation levels are higher as well as a robotic arm that can make use of 5 different devices.

The mission that was originally planned to only last for 687 days (668 sols) has been decided to be made indefinite. During the time that the rover will continue to function on the surface of Mars, it will continue to study the biological, geological and geochemical processes and occurrences on the planet. While there is a focus set on whether microbial life was ever existent on Mars, the rover also plays a vital role in determining the conditions of mankind’s first step on the planet’s surface in person.

Image Source: 1

“Destination: Mars” Exhibit Uses Virtual Reality for Space Exploration

Short Snippet of Mars Is Now Available on YouTube

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