NASA Mars
Visualization Alliance
Meeting 7
Summary
October 1, 2002
Sheri Klug of Arizona State University (ASU) (Tempe, AZ) presented the Mars Student Imaging Project and the Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image Scroller. Two PowerPoint files illustrating these topics have been sent out to the Alliance.
THEMIS
(Thermal Emission Imaging System) Images
THEMIS brings the latest images of Mars to museums . . . daily. This program is intended to allow your audiences to participate in the exploration of another planet, as images they are viewing are fresh and unreleased; and brings the reality of the Martian surface to the audience. These images have not been released through the media.
Institutions can show THEMIS images using the THEMIS Image Scroller (TIS). It is written in Java language and can potentially run in a wide variety of computer environments. The application is stored, together with 100 of the latest THEMIS images, in a Java archive (JAR) file. A new JAR file is generated each evening at ASU and placed on a password protected website. Client institutions use a utility program called “wget” to retrieve the JAR file to a local computer. A simple shell script on the client machine runs wget once per day and executes the TIS application.
The day-to-day operation of the application is fully automated from the perspective of the client’s institution. Each JAR file is approximately 50 megabytes. All the software needed to run the application is freely available on the web.
This system works well with Windows 98 and 2000 as well as Linux and Sun’s Solaris. A modest Pentium 4 class machine is sufficient to run the application with a CPU 1.6 Ghz Pentium 4 or faster processor. 512 Mb of RAM, or more memory is needed and a 40 Gb drive. AGP graphics work best. Using good graphics is more important than the CPU used. Something like a Matrox G450 card is recommended.
A Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is needed and is available free from Sun Microsystems for a variety of operating systems. The current JRE for Apple computers does not support all of the features this application needs.
Wget lets a script on the client machine download the JAR file from ASU just as one would download any other web document. As long as browsing is possible from the client institution, firewalls and other local security issues should not be an issue.
A prototype has been running
at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC and has been very successful. The Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University has also been running the scroller.
There is no audience interface; the scroller provides a purely automated slow scroll of the images. The image scroller provides an engaging platform for an audience to view images that are just received from Mars.
The resolution is 100 meters per pixel. The scrolled images’ size depends on the size of the monitor. Infrared and visible cameras are linked so there are daytime infrared, nighttime infrared, and visible images all scrolling.
For more information contact
Dale Noss at DALE.NOSS@asu.edu
(480) 965-1790.
The MSIP is dedicated to letting students conduct image targeting and analysis using the camera on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. The project brings authentic Mars research to students in grades 5-14. There is a min. of 8 students needed to participate.
The students attempt to answer a scientific question, loosely applying the scientific method. Students are prepared for their Mars project using a guided set of activities involving a model project in the classroom. They
write a scientific proposal for a project involving data obtained from the THEMIS camera on board the Mars Odyssey.
Selected student teams will work with mission planners, scientists, and educators to select a site on Mars to image using the camera. When the image is received from the spacecraft, student teams will analyze their data and publish their results in an online journal maintained by ASU Mars Education.
There are five curriculum manuals available to download including activity books, a resource manual, and a teacher’s guide. The curriculum takes anywhere from a few weeks to an entire semester for the team to go through. The curriculum is aligned to National Science Education Standards.
There are three levels of participation: on-site at Arizona State, distance-learning, or archived. 1) On-site: Students will be picked to go to the Mars Space Flight Facility at ASU (at their own expense) for a 3-day, on-site format for their research activities; 2) Distance learning: selected to use video and teleconferences, email, and webchats to interact; 3) Archived data: The student proposals that are not selected for on-site or distance learning activities will receive an “archived image” related to their project that was taken by a previous team and can use email for limited interaction.
For more information about MSIP go to http://msip.asu.eduor email msip@asu.edu
Imagine
Mars
The Imagine Mars Project (IMP) is a redesign of the Mars Millennium Project. It encourages students to think about life in their own communities and how to build a community for 100 people on Mars that would be scientifically sound and culturally rich. To encourage participation there will be a workshop and a webcast hosted by Bill Nye the Science Guy at JPL on November 22 from 11a.m.-12 noon Pacific time. Museums are encouraged to invite schools into their facilities to participate. The workshop will bring Mars scientists, experts and artists from California to serve in four stations, each covering a different necessity (shelter, environment, culture, and food) for the Martian community. 60 students from Southern California will be brought into the Lab to work at these different stations. The webcast will highlight each station’s work. Choreographer Debbie Allen may be involved to demonstrate movement on Mars. Museums can modify the format to suit their local community’s needs.
For more information about Imagine Mars contact Stephenie Lievense at 818/393-6729
Latest Results from
Mars Odyssey: Webcast Nov. 14
A Mars Odyssey Webcast is now in the planning stages. The principal investigators and the science team for Mars Odyssey are coming to JPL Thursday, Nov. 14 for a project science group meeting. The meeting will be webcast to the lab. If museum interest is there it may be a good opportunity to do a Today Show type program for incorporating Museums into this line up. Using previously filmed questions from museums and rolling them as if they were live during the webcast with a pre-taped message attached may be the best way for Alliance members to participate. Phone in and email questions are also an option. The best time for this event would be in the morning to ensure east coast participation. One hour in length seems like a reasonable timeframe for the webcast. Some Alliance members indicated they would like a tape of the webcast to use snippets of in their facility.
For more information about the Mars Odyssey webcase contact Christine Johnson at 818/393-2634 or Christine.Johnson@jpl.nasa.gov
The MER Videos that have been promised to the Alliance are in the works. Some institutions prefer Beta, some VHS and some HD. Six minutes is an ideal length of time for these videos for museum kiosks and other displays. Three 2-minute videos can be used to serve this purpose. Some museums indicated an interest in raw, unedited footage, like those of a Retro-Rocket Firing Test at China Lake.
Data Delivery to
Museums
The THEMIS scrolling method of getting image products appears to be an easier approach for the institutions with less money to spend and lower end capabilities. The Unix method of pushing the data out seems to be more popular with those institutions with higher end capabilities. The process of getting the Alliance image products is being reconsidered.