Take a Trip to Mars without Leaving Pasadena

A group of researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena have been working on a new technology that will eventually allow scientists to work on Mars, in virtual reality – or, to be exact, “mixed reality.”

Based on their research, NASA and Microsoft have teamed up to offer the public a guided tour of an area on Mars using mixed-reality headsets called OnSight. These will be unveiled in “Destination: Mars,” an interactive exhibit which opens at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida this summer.

A pilot group of scientists at JPL now uses OnSight in their work supporting the Curiosity Mars rover’s operations.

“We’re excited to give the public a chance to see Mars using cutting-edge technologies that help scientists plan Curiosity’s activities on Mars today,” said Jeff Norris, project manager for OnSight and “Destination: Mars” at JPL. “While freely exploring the terrain, participants learn about processes that have shaped this alien world.”

Using the mixed-reality devices, guests at “Destination: Mars” will virtually visit several sites on Mars, reconstructed from real imagery taken by NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover which has been exploring the planet since 2012. Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin will serve as a holographic tour guide on the journey.

JPL’s Erisa Hines, who remotely drives Curiosity Mars rover, will also appear holographically, leading participants to places on Mars where scientists have made exciting discoveries and explaining what have been learned so far about the planet.

“This experience lets the public explore Mars in an entirely new way. To walk through the exact landscape that Curiosity is roving across puts its achievements and discoveries into beautiful context,” said Doug Ellison, visualization producer at JPL.

Abigail Fraeman, a Curiosity science team member at JPL, uses OnSight to make recommendations about where the rover should drive and which features to study in more detail. Recently OnSight helped her and a colleague identify the transition point between two Martian rock formations, which they would like to study in further detail.

“OnSight makes the whole process of analyzing the data feel a lot more natural to me,” Fraeman said. “It really gives me the sense that I’m in the field when I put it on. Thinking about Martian geology is a lot more intuitive when I can stand in the scene and walk around the way I would if I were in the field.”

“Destination: Mars,” utilizing the same technologies and datasets as OnSight , will offer participants a glimpse of Mars as seen by mission scientists at JPL.

“The way a scientist would use this is that shortly after rover images come down from Mars, we will build a virtual version of Mars immediately and then stream it to their devices,” Alex Menzies, with JPL’s augmented-reality program, tells KABC. “They’ll be able to walk around on Mars, and identify potential new science targets, decide where they want to take pictures and plan out future drives of where they want to go.”