Fly over the Surface of Mars in 3D with the Most Complete Imagery to Date

We might have a rover driving around Mars, investigating the soil, and spawning parody Twitter accounts, but the European Space Agency’s Mars Express Spacecraft is no slouch. It has made a full orbit of Mars almost 12,000 times, which has enabled it to map a significant portion of martian terrain, and now we can watch a really accurate 3D flyover.

Mars Express has nine different imaging sensors on board, which has allowed the German Aerospace Center to create an incredibly accurate map of martian terrain from different angles. Originally planned to only orbit the planet for 2 years after it got there in 2004, the mission is still active and should continue until 2014.

This may not be the most graphically impressive 3D version of Mars anyone has ever made, but it’s technically the most accurate, and there’s just something about that accuracy that makes it fun to watch.

(via Space.com)

Meanwhile in related links

• NASA’s Juno Mission sent us this squiggle, which is much cooler than it looks
• The UN wants to get involved in space, too, to protect us from asteroids
• This image of an explosion in the sun’s atmosphere is pretty neat, too