Mapping a Mission to Mars

GIS Aids in Planning the Terrestrial Phase of Mars Science Laboratory Mission

Sources of data:
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission planners used a combination of ArcGIS
and remote-sensing imagery collected in prior Mars missions to achieve the best possible
awareness of Mars' diverse terrain and complicated geography. Imagery resources are crucial
to construct maps for any terrestrial exploration of a planet, moon, or asteroid. Imagery datasets
for MSL mission planning came from three active remote-sensing satellites that have been
orbiting Mars for years collecting visible and multispectral photographic data of the Martian
surface for their respective assignments. Of those three satellites, the Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter was the last to reach the planet, in 2006, and hence contains the most advanced optics
and richest imagery datasets. Called the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment
(HiRISE), it provided the foundational basemap imaging that NASA and JPL needed to
construct maps for future rover-based missions.