[meteorite-list] NASA Releases Tool Enabling Citizen Scientists to Examine Asteroid Vesta

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4531

NASA Releases Tool Enabling Citizen Scientists to Examine Asteroid Vesta
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
March 31, 2015

NASA has announced the release of Vesta Trek, a free, web-based application 
that provides detailed visualizations of Vesta, one of the largest asteroids 
in our solar system.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft studied Vesta from July 2011 to September 2012. 
Data gathered from multiple instruments aboard Dawn have been compiled 
into Vesta Trek's user-friendly set of tools, enabling citizen scientists 
and students to study the asteroid's features. The application includes:

-- Interactive maps, including the ability to overlay a growing range 
of data sets including topography, mineralogy, abundance of elements and 
geology, as well as analysis tools for measuring the diameters, heights 
and depths of surface features and more

-- 3-D printer-exportable topography so users can print physical models 
of Vesta's surface

-- Standard keyboard gaming controls to maneuver a first-person visualization 
of "flying" across the surface of the asteroid

Vesta Trek was developed by NASA's Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project 
(LMMP), which provides mission planners, lunar scientists and the public 
with analysis and data visualization tools for our moon, spanning multiple 
instruments on multiple missions. Vesta Trek represents the first application 
of LMMP's capabilities to another world beyond the moon. LMMP-based portals 
for other worlds in our Solar System are currently in development.

"There's nothing like seeing something with your own eyes, but these types 
of detailed data-visualizations are the next best thing," said Kristen 
Erickson, Director, Science Engagement and Partnerships at NASA Headquarters 
in Washington. "We're thrilled to release Vesta Trek to the citizen science 
community and the public, not only as a scientific tool, but as a portal 
to an immersive experience that, just by the nature of it, will allow 
a deeper understanding of Vesta and asteroids in general."

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is continuing its exploration in the asteroid belt, 
after arriving at the dwarf planet Ceres on March 6. As Dawn conducts 
its mapping and measurements of Ceres, LMMP will continue to work closely 
with the Dawn mission.

The Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project is managed by NASA's Solar System 
Exploration Research Virtual Institute, headquartered at NASA's Ames Research 
Center in Moffett Field, California. LMMP's development team is based 
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. JPL also 
manages the Dawn mission for NASA. LMMP is funded by and receives direction 
from the Planetary Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate 
and the Advanced Exploration Systems program in NASA's Human Exploration 
and Operations Mission Directorate, at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

To explore Vesta Trek, visit:

http://vestatrek.jpl.nasa.gov

For more information about the Dawn mission, visit:

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov

To learn more about the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, 
visit:

http://sservi.nasa.gov


Media Contact

Sharon Lozano 
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-4789
sharon.k.lozano at nasa.gov 

Elizabeth Landau
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6425
elizabeth.landau at jpl.nasa.gov 

2015-106