Google Earth lets explorers take a full virtual view of the Earth and Moon, but NASA is taking the concept to a whole new level through its very own web tool. The release allows you to examine Vesta which is one of the biggest asteroids in our solar system.
According to NASA, the aptly named software called Vesta Trek offers detailed visualizations of the asteroid. The imagery made available comes courtesy of the Dawn spacecraft which studied the celestial body from July 2011 to September 2012. The web tool is being made available for free and the agency notes that it’s designed with a set of user-friendly tools for citizen scientists and students.
Since it’s a web app, you will not have to download anything and it can be accessed from any PC. Apart from just exploring Vesta, you’ll be able to do a lot more like overlay data sets such as topography, mineralogy and more. There are analysis tools as well, for taking measurements such as heights, depths and surface features amongst others.
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You’ll be able to explore the asteroid using a standard keyboard and there’s gamepad support as well, to enable you to experience a first-person visualization of flying across the surface. NASA is also throwing in a 3D printer-exportable topography which can be used for creating physical models of Vesta.
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft may be done exploring Vesta, but its journey is far from over. It’s currently at dwarf planet Ceres which is the largest object in the asteroid belt. The space agency notes that its craft will soon start conducting mapping and measurements of the 950km object. So in the next few years, we can also anticipate getting a virtual tour of the dwarf planet.
You can access the Vesta Trek web tool from NASA over at this link.