Seminar on the Progress of the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity



April 27, 2004

1:00pm – 2:00pm
240 Math Building
(second floor of Math Building at corner of Edith Cockins Hall)
Ohio State University Campus
Mars Exploration Rover (MER) 2003 Mission
2nd Update on Rover Localization and Mapping

Professor Ron Li, Participating Scientist
 Mapping and GIS Laboratory
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science

Spirit Rover Traverse of Bonneville Crater (Sol 65)Bonneville Crater traverseMapping & GIS Laboratory, The Ohio State University

Dr. Ron Li, proferssor of geodetic science at The Ohio State University (OSU) and participating scientist of the Mars Exploration Rover mission, has been working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA, and leading his team at OSU in performing high-precision landing site mapping and rover localization for the twin MER 2003 rovers Sprit and Opportunity. Employing photogrammetric bundle adjustment along with the MarsMapper mapping software developed at the OSU Mapping & GIS Laboratory, the team improved rover localization accuracy and produced 3D terrain models and maps from ground images taken by the rovers as well as orbital and descent images. These maps have been extensively used by mission scientists and engineers for short- and long-term planning and mission operations.