Hiking On The Red Planet, Anyone?

BBC News reported that scientists have created topographical maps of the Red Planet, using data from a European space probe that's been orbiting Mars since December 2003. These maps are very similar to those which planning authorities and hikers use back here on Earth. In addition, they've also turned the data into a 3D models of Mars.

I was going to poke fun at this by saying that next Google is going to release a Google Earth-type program called Google Mars, but in typing that keyword into the Google search engine, I found out that I really wasn't the first to think of this, as Google already has a site called Google Mars...

I was also thinking that next travel agencies are going to start offering commercial hiking trips on the Red Planet for millionaires, seeing as Earth's orbit is no longer a stranger to them. Then again, they've still gotta get through the Moon first, and seeing as the next race for the Moon is getting underway, that'll probably happen within a decade or so...

The European Space Agency (ESA), which comiled the maps, said it hoped the maps would become a standard reference for future research on Mars, so the maps weren't just produced to provide hours of entertainment for geeks searching for signs of life (and so on) on the Red Planet... (I was kinda looking forward to that...)

Anyhow, check out ESA's website for more topographical maps of Mars, if you're interested... (link)


Sources:
BBC News Article
The European Space Agency - Mars Express website