Take A 360 Degree Look Around Mars

With the help of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), you can take a 360 degree look around Mars and choose the angle of the view. It’s as close as we would ever get to riding Curiosity across the Red Planet.

• The camera is placed on top of the Curiosity rover, near the Namib Dune
• The video was created from images the rover snapped on December 18th of last year
• Viewers can see the the dune, terrain, mountains in the distance, and the rover itself

NASA just released the 360 degree video, created from a string of images of the Martian surface. It displays the eerily barren land, with dull grey rocks and trademark red hint across its sands. The beautiful display is the first interactive image we have of the Red Planet, one starting from on top of the Curiosity rover.

The images were snapped on December 18^th, 2015, in what was Curiosity’s 1,197^th Martian day on the foreign planet. With them, JPL engineers were able to create an excellent way for everyone to gander around the foreign planet directly from our computers. At the very least, it could offer us an idea of how Matt Damon’s character felt in The Martian. Sans the fear of dying and desperate need for survival.

The camera angle initially faces the well-known Namib Dune, reported to be around 23 feet away from the Curiosity rover, stretching 16 feet in height. By simply clicking on the arrows in the corner of the video or dragging our cursor on the images, we can glance around the barren land of the foreign planet. We can let our eyes linger on the red-tinted skies, the rocky ground, the sandy dunes, or Martian mountains out in the distance on the horizon.

The Curiosity rover first landed on the foreign planet on August 6^th, 2012, and has offered us curious Earthlings a series of pictures displaying the barren landscape. The vehicle is “armed” with 17 cameras on board, used to navigate around the challenging terrain, avoid hazards, and aid in scientific examinations. However, NASA engineers have been making major leaps forward in how they utilize its tools.

It’s the first interactive video NASA has released of the Red Planet, among the string of images shown to the public. However, most would know what sort of controversy they have sparked, from seeing monkeys, people, or a statue of Budha around the rocky plains. NASA has been good at not engaging conspiracy theories, but they still have a heavy battle ahead with each picture. With an image so expansive, it’s possible that more assumptions will surface.

Now, who saw Bigfoot at 1:32?

 

Image source: technobuffalo.com