{"id":5091,"date":"2013-10-28T15:36:45","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T15:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5091"},"modified":"2013-10-28T15:36:45","modified_gmt":"2013-10-28T15:36:45","slug":"mars-express-gives-3d-view-of-the-surface-of-the-red-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5091","title":{"rendered":"Mars Express gives 3D view of the surface of the Red Planet"},"content":{"rendered":"

The German space agency DLR provides a video tour of the Mars surface created with the high resolution imagery produced during ten years of operation so far by the ESA\u00a0Mars Express<\/a>\u00a0spacecraft in orbit around the Red Planet:\u00a0On board Mars Express, in orbit around the Red Planet – DLR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 3D view of the valleys, canyons and lava flows is possible because of the unusual imaging principle used by the camera. Nine light-sensitive detectors sweep the surface in sequence from nine different observation angles. This data is then processed into three-dimensional images by the DLR planetary researchers. “We can see the entire topography almost as well as if we were standing on Mars ourselves,” says Jaumann. What is the angle of inclination of a slope? How thick is that lava layer? Using the images from the Mars Express camera, the scientists have been able to determine, for example, that volcanism on Mars was still occurring relatively recently. Some of the shield volcanoes in the Tharsis region of Mars were still active a few million years ago. In geological terms, that is still in the planet’s recent past. Even today, the volcanoes may just be taking a break from this former activity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n