Mars gets its own Web site Mars gets its own Web site (August 06, 2004)

NASA Ames makes it easy to track rover missions

By Julie O'Shea

Mars is just a computer click away thanks to a Web site created to help local NASA scientists find the best landing spot on the red planet for their rover missions, which touched down earlier this year.

From the site (http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov), people can get a close-up view of the Martian terrain and the latest news from Spirit and Opportunity, the two rovers currently exploring the planet's alien surface.

Marsoweb was originally launched for the benefit of scientists. However, after NASA successfully landed two rovers on the planet, the general public suddenly showed a keen interest in exploring the Internet site, said Virginia Gulick, a scientist at NASA Ames who started Marsoweb in 1999.

Gulick said the site gets thousands of hits each month from those outside the NASA circuit. In fact, the Web page received 26.7 million hits in January alone, NASA reported. Scientists are hoping people will take a virtual look at Mars and then offer their observations and thoughts on the the planet and its unique geologic features.

The site allows users to easily access Mars data, such as photographs, geologic and topographical maps and engineering facts. Users can make suggestions about imaging targets, but Gulick said there has to be some kind of scientific justification for the suggestions.

"This gets the public involved in planetary sciences," said Gulick.

Asked if she would consider creating a site dedicated to Saturn which is also being explored by NASA, Gulick said that might be a little far-reaching at the moment. However, she added that taking a closer look at the moon might be a possibility someday.

Gulick said she hopes to start Lunaweb, a site that explores the moon and its data, in the near future, "if we can get the funding.

"There is lots of data from the moon that hasn't been put into a user-friendly mode," she said.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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