New: Mars In 4K

The images in this video are all real, captured by NASA’s mars rovers. Directly from the surface of the planet. This is the first time martian footage has been rendered in stunning 4k resolution. So sit back, relax and enjoy this journey across the surface of another world. This is an ultra high definition video Computers were harmed during the making of this videoThe team at NASA have given Mars informal place names, which you will see on the screen in the bottom left corner. The footage was mainly captured by the three most successful rovers: Spirit, Opportunityand Curiosity. The cameras on board the rovers were the height of technology when the respective missions were launched. A question often asked is: Why don’t we actually have live video from mars?Although the cameras are high quality, the rate at which the rovers can send data back to earth is the biggest challenge. Curiosity can only send data directly back to earth at 32 kilobits per secondInstead when the rover can connect to the Mars reconnaissance orbiter, we get more favourable speeds of 2 megabits per second. However, this link is only available for about 8 minutes each ‘Sol’, or Martian dayAs you would expect, sending HD video at these speeds would take a long timeAs nothing really moves on mars. It makes more sense to take and send back the imagesIn order to create a video like this, several images must first be stitched together to create a mosaic or panoramaDepending on how many images are connected you may sometimes see black areas where no image was takenWe have done our best to preserve the 4k quality by not zooming in, while also trying not to include those areasBut you may see them from time to timeBy taking these mosaics and panning across them at 60 frames per secondWe have created the most lifelike experience of being on marsThis image is the largest mosaic ever put together and was made from over 1000 images taken bycuriosity between November 24th and December 1st 2019. It contains1. 8 billion pixelsAs we zoom in, the quality does not diminish. At this zoom level what you are seeing is exactly4k quality. The rover was exploring the area named ‘Glen Torridon’Which was theorized to contain large amounts of clayClay found on mars signals the presence of water in the past. At this point in 2020the NASA rovers have found irrefutable evidence that Mars was once a watery planetYou may be wondering why the sky color varies from image to imageThe true color of mars is reddish and hazy. In some imageshowever, the sky will appear blue and bright like on earth. This is due to the recoloring of images done by NASA in order to aid geologists identifying rock formations. This technique also produces a much clearer picture so we can see Mars in much greater detail. Curiosity is the only rover still active on Mars. The previous two rovers: ‘Spirit’ and ‘Opportunity’unfortunately succumbed to the Martian environment. They were launched around the same time, landing on opposite sides of the planet. Twin rovers,they are considered one of NASA’s mostsuccessful missions. Spirit became trapped in a sand dune and lost the ability to charge its solar panels after six years of service. Opportunity outlived Spirit, roaming mars for 14 years and making astounding discoveries. Opportunity was lost in 2019after experiencing a massive dust storm and essentially freezing to death. NASA’s newest rover ‘Perseverance’ is scheduled to land in 2021. It will deploy a small helicopter called ‘Ingenuity’. Ingenuity will scout the path ahead, warning the team at NASA about any sand traps awaiting the rover. Flying on mars is no easy feat. With an atmosphere much thinner than Earth’s, it’s blades will reach up to2400 revolutions per minute. That’s 40 spins every second. Most helicopters on Earth operate at just 500 revolutions per minutewhich is just over 8 spins per second. This video was an exhibit of the high quality images available of the Martian surface,which many people are unaware of. Click here to see the full journey of Curiosity and the things it actually discovered on Mars orgo and check out our other videosThanks for watching ElderFox. You