Earth Planets and Moons ID: 2876

Great Zoom into Don Juan Pond, Antarctica (Treatment #2 South)

Visualizations by Greg Shirah Released on April 22, 2004

Antarctica is the coldest and most remote continent on Earth. It is also home to one of the most Mars-like places that scientists can study without actually traveling to the fourth planet.

In this sequence we plunge from space down to a remarkably detailed view of a unique part of the Dry Valleys. By studying this place, researchers think they might gain insight into how life on Mars might either survive now or have developed in the past. This place is called the Don Juan Pond, and it's one of the saltiest, coldest bodies of water on Earth. Treatment #2 uses an IKONOS inset that's enhanced to show detail.

This portion of the visualization is intended to follow animation 2874, 'Great Zoom into Don Juan Pond, Antarctica (treatment #2)' and moves in close to circumnavigate a portion of the lower edge of the valley. Textured, folded gully formations appear in the rocky surface. Then the camera slides down the valley slope and stops above the actual pond of sub-freezing water at the base.

For More Information

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2004/0422earthmars.html

Visualization Credits

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Animator
Marte Newcombe (GST): Animator
Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Visualizer
Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Animator
James Garvin (NASA/HQ): Scientist
Michael Starobin (HTSI): Writer

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2876

Data Used: