30-Year-Old 3-D movie made from viking data gets new life

July 27, 2011 By Nancy Atkinson

Back in 1979, scientists at Stanford University created a 3-D movie from images sent back by the Viking landers on Mars. It was rather novel in that, while 3-D movies had been around since the 1950′s — mostly for low-budget B movies in theaters — this stereographic film was more scientific in nature, but was created for the public to learn more about the Viking mission and Mars, providing a “you are there” experience.

It was created using 16mm film, which degrades over time. Considering the unique historical and scientific value of this film, a group from NASA’s Ames Research Center have constructed a new remastered digital version, made from the original 16mm film footage, sound reels, and related documentation.

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Plans are underway to hold screenings of this new version of Mars in 3-D in Digital Cinema 3-D format. But in the meantime you can watch it now online in a digital anaglyph version, best viewed with red-cyan 3-D glasses.

Read more about the remastering process and read original papers from the imaging team from Viking at the Ames History Office website.

Source: Universe Today

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Vendicar_Decarian
Jul 27, 2011

Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Wow, it's like I'm really there. Only in 3d.
Digi
Jul 28, 2011

Rank: not rated yet
Some really precious footage here. The sampling arm coming right at you is worth the effort alone for you to try and 'freeview' this. It also becomes immediately apparent how incredibly rocky the Martian landscape was around the Viking Lander.
Rank 5 /5 (4 votes)
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The digital film reel

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