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Review: NASA's Curiosity App for Windows 8 lets you explore Mars rover in detail |
August 14, 2013
As I write these lines, a car-sized robot powered by 32 cubes of plutonium is roaming the surface of Mars, taking photos using no less than 17 cameras, vaporizing stuff with infrared laser beams, drilling into rocks, and generally having a good time. NASA's Curiosity rover is one of the space agency's most ambitious, important, and exciting scientific missions.
The SUV-sized Curiosity rover is packed with scientific gear optimized for an alien landscape.
As you may expect from a machine that had to be flown for over 350 million miles just to begin its work, Curiosity is an incredibly complex beast. Weighing in at 1980 pounds, the rover carries 180 pounds of scientific instruments. One nice way to gain a better understanding of those instruments and the rover's mission is using NASA and JPL's free Windows 8 app, Mars Rover: Curiosity.
The app's opening animation shows the rover's dramatic descent onto the surface of Mars.
The app launches with a beautiful animation of the rover's dramatic descent to the surface of Mars. Once the animation plays out, you're left with a 3D model of the rover parked on the surface of Mars. You can use your mouse or touch screen to shift your viewpoint around the model and zoom in or out, though unfortunately, you don't get to drive: The entire demo is static, with no animation at all.
The app explains each of the rover's main parts, but uses mainly text to do so.
As you rotate around the rover, icons pop up over its various parts. Click an icon, and a sidebar pops open on the left side of the screen with a comprehensive explanation about the part in question. Most sidebars contain an image or two, and are quite text-heavy.
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Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2045397/review-nasas-curiosity-app-for-windows-8-lets-you-explore-mars-rover-in-detail.html#tk.rss_reviews
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