NASA's latest Mars-Rover supported by Austrian Technology

VRVis develops a viewer for the visual analysis of the data recorded by Mastcam-Z and processed by Joanneum Research.

This illustration depicts NASA's Perseverance rover operating on the surface of Mars (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

On 30 July, 2020, NASA's fifth Mars Rover mission "Perseverence" set off from Cape Canaveral to the Jezero Mars crater to continue searching for traces of ancient life on the Red Planet. On board of the technically most sophisticated unmanned Mars Rover to date, are a 1.8 kilogram light helicopter drone and seven scientific instruments.

One of these is the Mastcam-Z camera system, the "main eye" of the rover. This highly innovative camera, which combines high-resolution, multi-color and stereo zoom, will capture detailed images and data of the Martian surface.

Under the leadership of Joanneum Research, VRVis has developed PRo3D under an ESA-PRODEX contract. PRo3D is a viewer that enables planetary scientists to interactively explore and geologically interpret 3D reconstructions and thus significantly facilitates new discoveries. The reconstructions are generated by Joanneum Research from images from the Mastcam-Z.

VRVis is represented with Chris Traxler as collaboration partner on the official Mastcam-Z website of NASA.