Martian Maps: the North Pole | The Planetary Society
▻http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/bill-dunford/20131120-mapping.html
Martian Maps: the North Pole
Posted By Bill Dunford
2013/11/20
Topics: naming things, pretty pictures, mapping, amateur image processing, Mars Express, Mars, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
I love maps of the planets. They remind me that the landscapes of Mars and Mercury are real places. You could wade along the shores of Titan yourself, listening to the splash your boots made as you walked (as long as they were really, really good boots). Planetary maps mark the retreating frontiers of knowledge: explorers filling in the blank spaces based on the deep space dispatches of robotic scouts. More than metaphor, though, they’re such physically beautiful things. Each one combines the work of dozens of scientists, through technical precision and artistry, into a visual record of discovery. The US Geological Survey even makes frameable paper maps available for order. They offer a tactile, ink-and-paper way to experience the data sent home by distant spacecraft.
#cartographie #mars #espace #planètes cc @fil