3D images of Mars, as real and detailed as if you were there - this is what Joanneum Research and VRVis have made possible in a long-term cooperation and with the help of the 3D viewer PRo3D as part of NASA's Mars rover mission "Perseverance". The basis for this were high-resolution images from the rover's main camera, the Mastcam-Z, which a research team led by Gerhard Paar at Joanneum Research in Graz co-developed.
After its successful landing in February 2021, the Mars rover Perseverance began sending image data from the Mastcam-Z stereoscopic camera system to Earth, where the 3D visualization tool PRo3D, developed by VRVis, was used to reconstruct the surface of Mars in 3D, true to scale and detail, for the geological interpretation of planetary researchers. These high-resolution 3D models enable planetary researchers to analyze the rock layers of Mars as precisely as if the geologists were virtually on-site. This not only helps to better understand the composition of the planet but also to identify geologically interesting regions for further investigation by rover instruments.
Especially due to the coronavirus, the international research work around NASA's Mars rover mission "Perseverance" mainly took place via virtual channels. At the beginning of December 2021, a research trip finally became possible, in compliance with all safety precautions. Thomas Ortner, head of our Geospatial Visualization, Semantic Modeling, and Acquisition Group, visited NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California and Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, together with research partner Gerhard Paar, Joanneum Research.
On December 6 at JPL, the Austrian researchers met Bob Deen, the scientist responsible for all data processing for the Perseverance mission at JPL. During the visit, further details and procedures were discussed and also a PRo3D Q&A workshop took place, where Thomas Ortner gave the researchers a hands-on introduction to the functionalities and possibilities of the 3D viewer.
Thomas Ortner and Gerhard Paar then spent the days between December 7 to 9 with the Mastcam-Z instrument team led by Jim Bell at Arizona State University (ASU). There, three Splinter Sessions as well as a talk with live demo of PRo3D took place in the context of the DTM Working Group to present Mars research made in Austria.
Vienna, 16.12.2021
The "Mars-DL" project is investigating how a deep learning system can support the research work of planetary scientists through object and pattern recognition. For this project VRVis has extended the functionality of PRo3D to automatically render shatter cone training images.
Support for planetary research: Visual analysis of reconstructions of the Mars surface and view planning for rover camera instruments.
Virtual exploration and geological analysis of reconstructed Mars surfaces and rock outcrops.
Visual Analysis of Asteroid Deflection.
