REAL LIFE NEWS: EXPLORE MARS FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN HOME
by Hazed
NASA’s astrocartographers (that’s space mappers for those who prefer shorter words) have released an interactive map of the surface of Mars, allowing you to explore the planet in 2D and 3D from your phone or desktop.
The Mars Trek website has been created using images from a series of missions. It offers three maps, one of each pole plus a global map. The resolution isn’t high enough to allow you to drive through ancient canals and craters, but you get a detailed view of features such as Olympus Mons, the planet’s highest moon, allowing you to become a virtual Martian mountaineer.
NASA says that Mars Trek is a web-based portal for exploration of the planet, showcasing data it has collected at various landing sites: “Mars Trek is primarily an outreach product aimed at students and members of the public who have already been introduced to basic information about Mars and would like to enhance their understanding with some guided investigations of surface features and mission activities, and then conduct their own explorations of Mars by visualizing NASA data in an easy to access way.”
NASA says that future releases will have more introductory modules for the general public, as well as providing more technical info for scientists and advanced students.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/10/its_like_google_earth_but_nasa_mars/
