Mapping Mars with Open Science Tools

Written by Copernical Team Tuesday, 02 July 2024 22:02

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Washington DC (SPX) Jun 29, 2024

Mars rovers uncover new discoveries through careful decision-making by scientists. The Mars 2020 mission focuses on Jezero Crater's geology and searching for signs of ancient microbial life with the Perseverance rover. Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California utilized innovative mapping methods to guide both the rover and the Ingenuity helicopter, using open-s

Mapping Mars with Open Science Tools
by Lauren Leese for NASA News
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 29, 2024

Mars rovers uncover new discoveries through careful decision-making by scientists. The Mars 2020 mission focuses on Jezero Crater's geology and searching for signs of ancient microbial life with the Perseverance rover. Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California utilized innovative mapping methods to guide both the rover and the Ingenuity helicopter, using open-source tools.

JPL experts Dr. Fred Calef III and Dr. Nathan Williams employed geospatial analysis to assist in selecting Jezero Crater as the landing site for Perseverance and Ingenuity. They created maps of the terrain using satellite data before the vehicles arrived on Mars.

"Maps and images are a common language between different people - scientists, engineers, and management," Williams said. "They help make sure everyone's on the same page moving forward, in a united front to achieve the best science that we can."

After landing on Mars in February 2021, the Ingenuity helicopter scouted ahead to capture photos. The team generated detailed maps from rover and helicopter images to plan Perseverance's path and investigations.

To support this comprehensive mapping, Calef developed the Multi-Mission Geographic Information System (MMGIS), an open-source web-based mapping tool. The software's online demos, loaded with Mars imagery, allow users to explore the paths of Perseverance, Ingenuity, and the Curiosity rover, which landed in 2012.

The open nature of the software was essential. "We have people literally all over the world who are working on the mission, and we need to be able to give them fast and quick access to software and data," Calef said.

MMGIS aimed to provide a full understanding of Martian geography. By combining orbital images with those from Perseverance and Ingenuity, the JPL team enables researchers to zoom in on individual boulders or out to view all of Mars. This range of perspectives helps the team understand the landscape around Perseverance and achieve their science goals.

The tools created by the JPL team have benefits beyond the Mars 2020 mission. The software helps other researchers visualize their data without needing specialized expertise. Thanks to the open-source approach, other teams now use MMGIS to map Earth and other planetary bodies.

In line with this open philosophy, images taken by Perseverance and Ingenuity are freely available to the public. Sharing these data aims to educate, inspire, and facilitate further research.

Looking ahead, Mars scientists, equipped with even more advanced AI tools, will continue exploring with open science. JPL is designing future Mars helicopters that are more capable and complex than Ingenuity, focusing on payload, range, and cost.

Open-source tools are vital in addressing these challenges. They are free to use and benefit from extensive collaborative development, ensuring reliability.

The JPL team views their work as part of an open science cycle, using and enhancing open tools for future missions. "Every mission is contributing back to the other missions and future missions in terms of new tools and techniques to develop," Calef said. "It's not just you working on something. It's being able to share data between people ... getting a higher order of science."

Lauren Leese is the Web Content Strategist for the Office of the Chief Science Data Officer