This image of the Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover inside Endurance Crater was produced using “Virtual Presence in Space” technology. Developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, this technology combines visualization and image-processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and a false-color mosaic taken on sol 134 (June 9, 2004) by Opportunity’s panoramic camera with the 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters. The size of the rover in the image is approximately correct and was based on the size of the rover tracks in the mosaic.
Because this synthesis provides viewers with a sense of their own “virtual presence” (as if they were there themselves), such views can be useful to mission teams in planning exploration by enhancing perspective and a sense of scale.Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell