NASA has developed Marsoweb, an interactive web site to enable scientists to select suitable landing sites for future missions to Mars. Scientists preparing the twin Mars Exploration River mission, scheduled for launch in June and July 2003, are able to view 44,000 high-resolution images of six potential landing sites - Terra Meridiani, Gusev Crater, Athabasca Valles, Melas Chasma, Isidis Planitia and Eos Chasma - taken by the Mars Global Surveyor, some with a resolution of 3m per pixel. The MGS and earlier Viking orbiters have mapped the surface of Mars producing images (including this one of a former lake), featuring thermal properties, rock abundance, slope, roughness and geology. Marsoweb provides the scientists with special software to interpret the data and an interactive feature allows them to view the surface in perspective and from any angle to help identify prospective landing sites from more than 400 images.
Source: Flight International
