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An important part of the current NASA Mars mission's research and communications work builds on the imagery provided by the rover's two powerful stereo, color, zoomable cameras. Through years of preparation, the Mastcam-Z science team, specifically the Stereoscopic and Digital Terrain Modeling Working Group, built a strong and robust framework to handle the high-resolution 3D images that the Perseverance rover has been sending back to Earth since its successful landing on Mars in February 2021.

The Austrian visual computing experts Joanneum Research and VRVis evaluated the first data from the stereo cameras of the NASA Mars rover. From the 96 image pairs of the Mastcam-Z stereo cameras located on the rover's mast, they created a video that gives a first impression of the landing area in the Jezero crater. Specifically, the first 30 to 40 meters of the rover's immediate landing zone can be seen. The video was published on the Mastcam-Z team's blog page.

The 3D viewer PRo3D developed by VRVis and Joanneum Research enables NASA scientists to interactively explore and geologically interpret 3D reconstructions of the Martian surface. On the one hand, this provides valuable insights into the nature of the Martian surface, enabling new discoveries in the search for past life on the red planet. In addition, the researchers can use the PRo3D visualization tool to gather crucial information on where the Mars rover should drill for rock samples in the future.