AGU Poster Session Abstracts

MarsQuest Online: Bringing exploration to the public
* Harold, J, Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301 United States
Dusenbery, P, Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301 United States

The last decade has seen an unprecedented number of missions to Mars. From orbiters to landers, we have been treated to an extraordinary series of views of the red planet. In 1997, the MarsQuest traveling exhibit was launched to help bring those views to the public. Three years later NSF funded MarsQuest Online, a web project designed to extend the reach and scope of the MarsQuest exhibit. A partnership between TERC, the Space Science Institute, and JPL, MarsQuest Online provides visitors with a wide range of activities that incorporate imagery and data from Mars spacecraft. Activities challenge visitors to recognize which planet a picture is from, or identify features in high resolution imagery. Topographic and image data from Mars Global Surveyor are combined in 3D globes of Earth and Mars, allowing visitors to vertically stretch the planets while locating highest and lowest points, volcanoes, etc. While not designed specifically as a "citizen science" program, two parts of the site - the MER image archive, and the global 3D system — could hold great potential for such activities. The MER image archive incorporates a real-time feed of raw images from the rover missions. Images are sortable by Mars day and camera, while a combination of panoramas and overhead views allow visitors to view the images in context and explore Mars along with the rovers. The global 3D system, still in development, is an expansion of the 3D activities currently on the site. This system will tap a global set of high resolution image and topographic tiles produced by JPL. This will allow visitors to fly seamlessly over Mars in 3D at the full resolution of these datasets. In addition, the system will include an annotation system to allow for the authoring of "tours" of the planet. We will discuss both of the site components, their capabilities, and potential for the future.

MarsQuest Online

Author(s) (2004), Title, Eos Trans. AGU, 85(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract

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