First Adjusted-False-Color Pans in Midnight Mars Browser

I'm experimenting with adjusting the brightness levels of raw images in MMB to make better panoramas; this is the first result:



Here is what the view looked like before image adjustment:



Here is a higher-resolution wide version:



This brightness-adjustment feature is a work-in-progress; but since I like what I've seeing so far, I'll probably include it in a new version of the software before too long.

Version 1.3.0

Midnight Mars Browser version 1.3.0 supports downloading and viewing Radiometrically Calibrated Color Images by Daniel Crotty. I'm excited about this, but I'll let the screenshots speak for themselves:









My thanks to Daniel Crotty, who I've been working with on integrating his beautiful natural-color images with MMB, and Michael Lyle of lyle.org for making this possible.

Version 1.3.0 also features faster updates from Exploratorium and (believe it or not, for longtime MMB users) documentation for the program. Please see the README file for information on how to download and view the calibrated color images in MMB.

Download the latest version of Midnight Mars Browser

Spirit Sol 583 Pancam Anaglyph Mosaic - "Home Plate"

Mosaic of Home Plate and McCool Hill in anaglyph 3D.

Spirit Sol 585 - Panorama Continues

Looks like the 360 degree pan started on sol 583 is almost complete. This section, taken on sol 585, shows the rover's tracks as it drove the final distance to the summit.

Updates To Come

Regular updates will resume shortly; I've been burning the midnight oil preparing version 1.3.0 of the software.

Spirit Sol 583 - The View East

Spirit Sol 583

After a short drive, Spirit is returning more pancam images.

Closeup of McCool Hill from Husband Hill, including "Home Plate":


The view approximately south in unadjusted false-color:


Adjusted-color versions of this view have been posted at UnmannedSpaceflight.

Spirit Sol 582 Pancam False-color

Pancam images taken before the drive on Sol 582:


Clark Hill seen from the summit of Husband Hill.


The view approximately northeast over "Tennessee Valley".

Spirit Sol 582 (3D)

dotMac seems to be having severe access problems today, so no metadata updates for awhile. In the meantime here a couple 3D images from yesterday (Sol 581):

Sol 581 Pancam mosaic in 3D

Monster dust devil in 3D

Spirit Sol 581 Pancams - Summit View

Pancam images to the north-east (in the rover drive direction).

Closeup:


Context:


And the raw images are something to write home about:

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Spirit Sol 581 - We're There

I think this will be my desktop image for awhile, at least until the next set of Spirit images come down. This is the view approximately north:



I know dust devils seem to be common at Gusev right now, but I really have to pause and reflect when one of this magnitude is captured in our first image from the summit. It is truly a wonder.

Spirit Sol 581 - The Summit of Husband Hill

Spirit Sol 580 Pancam Images

Pancam images from Spirit Sol 580 are starting to trickle in. They seem to be interested in the area immediately around the rover. Difficult to say how soon we will continue the trek to the summit.

Version 1.2.7

Midnight Mars Browser version 1.2.7 fixes problems where the program wouldn't work unless Java 3D was installed. Update and Slideshow should now work without Java 3D installed.

Download the latest version of Midnight Mars Browser

Opportunity Sol 553 - Endurance on the Distant Horizon

Endurance Crater and reflection from the discarded heatshield can be seen on the distant horizon in this Pancam image from Opportunity Sol 553.


This shows the context for the pancam image above, just to show how far away we're seeing...

Spirit Sol 578 - 360 Degrees Near the Summit

Full 360 degree navcam coverage is now available from Spirit's current position at what appears to be just below Summit 1. The feature known as "Home Plate" is now visible for the first time below, as well as the horizon to the southeast:







120º view in the drive direction

120º view 90º right of the drive direction

120º view 180º from the drive direction

120º view 90º left of the drive direction

Spirit Sol 578 - Corrected

Whoops, I guessed wrong were that one pancam image went. This is more like it:



Close up:

Spirit Sol 578 - Very Close to the Summit, Continued

A few more pancams came down... I'm guessing what we're lookng at is Summit 1. Seems likely enough, since they're photographing it.

Spirit Sol 578 - Very Close to the Summit

Back the way we came - what a view!


The placement of this single pancam image is a guess, but it seems that we can now see the horizon all the way around us.


Close up of the single pancam image that came down. More images will no doubt follow soon.

Tedstryk's Space Images Blog

Just discovered via UnmannedSpaceflight.com: tedstryk's blog. Highly recommended.

Spirit Sol 576 False-Color

Spirit Sol 576 Pancams

Summit 1 is up there somewhere.


Who knows, maybe right in front of us?

Spirit Sol 576 - Getting Close to the Top

The summit must be up there somewhere.


The view to the approximate south.

(MMB metadata will be updated later tonight.)

Opportunity Sol 553 Pancam False-Color

Edit: Flickr was down, but appears to be back up now.


Behind the rover.


In front of the rover.

Mention on the Planetary Society Weblog

MMB gets a mention on the Planetary Society Weblog by Emily Lakdawalla. Cool stuff! Check it out.

Version 1.2.6

Version 1.2.6 adds some better error reporting and fixes an issue where people upgrading from earlier versions would have to update metadata before it would be available again. This should be the last new version for few weeks (at least I hope there aren't any other issues that will require fixing).

Download the latest version of Midnight Mars Browser

Exploratorium is Back Up

Woo hoo!!

Spirit Sol 573-574 - Approaching the Summit

Version 1.2.5

Version 1.2.4 had a couple "problems", such as the panoramas not showing up in the panorama dialog for new users, and the home directory selection option not working. Version 1.2.5 should fix all of that. If you downloaded version 1.2.4, please upgrade to version 1.2.5 right away. Now let us never speak of it again.

Here, again, is what changed for Version 1.2.4:

- Midnight Mars Browser home directory is now configurable in Preferences. Preferences are now stored in the MidnightMarsBrowser.properties file in the user directory, or in {user directory}/Library/Preferences on Mac OS X.

- Status displayed in title bar while panoramas are loading.

- Faster updates: eliminated unneccesary file checks, particularly for metadata.

- Fast reloading of panorama list when panorama criteria is changed.

- Panorama Screenshot feature (under File -> Advanced).

- Must enter Panorama Edit Mode (under File -> Advanced) before allowed to edit panoramas.

- Panorama full resolution mode loads navcam images first at full 1024x1024 resolution, then pancam images, until out of memory.

- Donation, software update reminder dialogs.

- Increased maximum memory allocation for the JVM from 128M to 192M.

- Changed "Check for New Images" button in main window to "Update Now"; now does an update same as Auto Update.

Download the latest version of Midnight Mars Browser

Version 1.2.4 Offline

Version 1.2.4 has been taken offline, as there are a couple bugs with it. Version 1.2.5 will be posted shortly.

Opportunity Sol 553 Pancams

Opportunity Sol 550-552

Want to have a pretty picture at the top of the site, but be sure to scroll down for the news about the latest version, 1.2.4.

Version 1.2.4

Midnight Mars Browser version 1.2.4 is now available. Here's what's changed:

- Midnight Mars Browser home directory is now configurable in Preferences. Preferences are now stored in the MidnightMarsBrowser.properties file in the user directory, or in {user directory}/Library/Preferences on Mac OS X.

- Status displayed in title bar while panoramas are loading.

- Faster updates: eliminated unneccesary file checks, particularly for metadata.

- Fast reloading of panorama list when panorama criteria is changed.

- Panorama Screenshot feature (under File -> Advanced).

- Must enter Panorama Edit Mode (under File -> Advanced) before allowed to edit panoramas.

- Panorama full resolution mode loads navcam images first at full 1024x1024 resolution, then pancam images, until out of memory.

- Donation, software update reminder dialogs.

- Increased maximum memory allocation for the JVM from 128M to 192M.

- Changed "Check for New Images" button in main window to "Update Now"; now does an update same as Auto Update.

With this version MMB officially becomes "Shareware" instead of "Freeware". Nothing is disabled; there is only a reminder dialog asking you to donate if you use the software regularly. (Thanks to oheresy for reminding me to mention that.) A big Thank You to those who have already donated; you may simply press the "I donated" button when the reminder dialog appears. MMB will continue to be freely available; my mission with it is to help promote the remarkable MER missions and NASA/JPL's outstanding public availability of raw images.

Download the latest version of Midnight Mars Browser

Opportunity Sol 550 (Rear View)

Opportunity Sol 550

Checking out the cobble.

Spirit Sol 569 Sunset

Holy Smokes! Spirit Sol 568

The biggest dust devils yet were seen by Spirit on Sol 568. Fortunately I can just link to the site of Dr. Mark T. Lemmon rather than put together a movie myself at this hour:

http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~lemmon/mer_dd/dd_enhanced_568a.gif