Project Mars Landing Historical Sites - surface textures and static models

[4throck]

I'm working on Mars scenery improvements!
The idea is to add better surface textures and static lander models for historical sites.

Started with the Vikings ( NASA makes the lander models available):

Viking 1 site:


Viking 2 site:


Lander model:




Will add Pathfinder, Phoenix and Insight .

The landers are simple static VesselBuilder vessels. This way I can adjust mesh positioning, landing points and add a VC view.
And the user can simply edit the scenario to add or remove them as needed.

 

[Kyle]

Very nice to see Mars getting some love!

 

[N_Molson]

Good idea, don't forget a good layer of martian dust on those Viking landers, sitting there since the 70's

 

[Urwumpe]

Good idea, don't forget a good layer of martian dust on those Viking landers, sitting there since the 70's

Maybe dust devils blew it all away.

 

[Gargantua2024]

Maybe dust devils blew it all away.

Just like Spirit and Opportunity

 

[4throck]

I'm converting straight from NASA so the models will look clean

Models | 3D Resources

3D Resources web application

nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov

For Spirit and Opportunity I'll place them at their final locations.

 

[Mojave]

I love this.

 

[Gargantua2024]

The landers are simple static VesselBuilder vessels. This way I can adjust mesh positioning, landing points and add a VC view.
And the user can simply edit the scenario to add or remove them as needed.

At first I thought the landers will be coded as permanent base structures. Then I read this

 

[4throck]

It's best to have a single scenario with all the landers that the user can copy and edit, if needed.
This way it won't interfere with other addons.

If someone has or wants to contribute with meshes, be my guest!
Parachute and back shell locations are known and I can add them (the same for crashes)...
But I need meshes for these objects.

 

[gattispilot]

I will send you what I have for the rovers. Backshell, chute and skycranes

 

[barrygolden]

Super job my friend. Are the NASA 3D models able to be added to Orbiter easily and can they be made to deploy stuff

 

[4throck]

@gattispilot Thanks! I'll rename everything to avoid conflicts with other addons.
@barrygolden Static models only. But since they are based on VesselBuilder anyone can add features in the future.

 

[4throck]

Phoenix and Pathfinder landing sites. Quality is not as high as Viking. I can try to improve them later.
The first goal is to have the landers in the correct location and with correct scale. Refinements will come later





PS - For the sake of others with similar problems:

Orbiter always crashed to desktop on loading after I added bases and a scenario file.
The log showed nothing, and looking at the files didn't reveal any problems.

Eventually I traced the problem to large positive coordinates:
Instead of -125 68 (correct) I was using 234 68 (incorrect)

 

[jumpjack]

My (ongoing) job to build a detailed 3d model of Pathfinder landing site:
Github repo with converter from old .TAB files containing point clouds to modern mesh format: https://github.com/jumpjack/mars-pathfinder-meshes
Original 3d files in ancient WRL format from NASA: http://win98.altervista.org/pathfinder/
A quick-and-dirty conversion to modern format, interactively visible on sketchfab: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/nasa-pathfinder-landing-site-1997-f442cd26d4ce46f488c2f3bcac90c002

My final objective would be to fix the original 3d WRL model to make it printable in color on Shapeways platform, but I am in real trouble doing it, I am not skilled enough in 3d modeling: I tried meshlab, meshmixer, cloudcompare, netfab..... but I was only able to close a dozen of holes; if anybody here was able to do something better with the original meshes, it would be very appreciated!

 

[jumpjack]

For MER missions, I am working to VST converter, PFB converter and to improving existing "Blender Navcam importer" script.

.VST files (Proprietary NASA ViSTa format; documentation publicly available): each one contains the pointcloud and mesh of a single "XYZ" product file; my VST converter can convert them into PLY and XYZ format.
.PFB files (SGI OpenGL Performer Fast Binary Format, undocumented): each one embeds multiple meshes associated to a specific rover locatione; my PFB converter is currently able only to read pointcloud, not the mesh; but it can output a string which can the be used by my modded Blender Navcam Importer to create a textured mesh; currently I am only able to use grayscale texture, I am studying how to implement color texture, where available.