NASA Releases 360-Degree Video of Mars | NewsWatch Review

By: Nick Gambino

Mars never ceases to be a fascinating subject. As evidence of that fact look no further than the recent success of Ridley Scott’s The Martian. Now NASA has fed this fascination by releasing a new 360-degree video featuring the surfaces of Mars.

The video/image was posted to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory YouTube channel. Taken by NASA’s rover, Curiosity, it allows you to see what it would be like to stand on the Bagnold Dunes on the Red Planet with a view of the Namib Dune and Mount Sharp.

The Curiosity arrived to Mars back in August of 2012 to find evidence that Mars once supported life. Since it arrived there have been numerous findings and images making their way back to Earth. This 360 experience is the latest.

360 degree videos and photos have become popular of late, acting as a sort of virtual reality experience in your video viewer. Generally they are taken by a 360-degree camera.

Now, this Mars image is actually made up of several images composited into one to give you the idea of a 360-degree view all around you. Something tells me affixing the $2.5 billion Curiosity with a 360-degree camera wasn’t a priority.

To experience the 360 video in all of its…360 glory you’ll need to use the right browser. Safari doesn’t currently support it (surprise surprise) but there are plenty that do. Make sure you have the newest version of Google Chrome, Opera, Mozilla Firefox or if you’re one of the unfortunate souls to still be using it, Internet Explorer.

Once you arrive at the YouTube video on one of those browsers, press “play” and then left click on the video image and move the mouse to explore. You can also use the arrow key in the top left. On mobile devices you can use the YouTube app on iOS and Android. Once you hit “play” you can now move your mobile device around to see the 360 view.

This video will have to hold us over until we actually get there ourselves. Some are predicting we’ll arrive to Mars in the next 10-12 years. What do you think?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Gambino is a regular script writer and tech beat reporter for NewsWatch.  He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and daughter.

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