The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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From panoramas to close-ups, from 3D maps to a wheel selfie, the Earth-bound twin of ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover is testing the wide range of photo settings that will deliver the greatest science possible during the ExoMars mission on the Red Planet.
The target over the last few months has been the reddish and grainy, sometimes rocky surface of the Mars Terrain Simulator at the ALTEC premises in Turin, Italy.
This simulated ‘overflight’ of the Mars-like terrain has been rendered using approximate colour and geometric information.
PanCam does not have just one pair, but three ‘science eyes’: one high-resolution and two wide-angle cameras. The two wide-angle cameras are set 50 cm apart and form a stereo pair that images what is in front of the rover from a vantage point about two metres above the ground. Scientists create 3D pictures and depth maps by overlaying simultaneous snapshots.