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Version 1.5.2 - November 5, 2006
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) makes raw images from the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity available on the Internet. The Exploratorium website also hosts these images, and furthermore posts new images on the hour, often almost as soon as they are received on Earth. Midnight Mars Browser is a tool that makes it easier to download and view these images.
Midnight Mars Browser synchronizes with the Exploratorium and JPL websites, downloading the latest new and updated images to your computer. It automatically processes these raw images to generate anaglyph (3-D) and false-color images. You can watch the images as they are downloaded and processed, and Midnight Mars Browser also creates a slideshow of the most recently updated images for you to review. You can also use the slideshow feature to view all of the images you've downloaded, or any subset of them. For example, you can select all Spirit Left Forward Hazard Avoidance Camera images, to step through a "movie" of Spirit traveling across the Martian surface. Midnight Mars Browser displays all images in the order that they were taken by the rovers, according to the time-code that is part of the image filename. MMB will also tell you what Sol (martian day) an image was taken on, which is something that's hard to tell when browsing the images on Exploratorium.
New in version 1.2 is the Virtual Reality Panorama feature. This feature allows you to step inside a panorama of downloaded images and look around as the rover camera would, stepping from one rover position to the next. Panorama definitions are automatically downloaded from the Midnight Mars Browser website as they become available. New panorama definitions are posted to the Midnight Mars Browser site regularly, to be automatically downloaded by Midnight Mars Browser. The panorama definitions are generated from the rover camera information, where available, or created by hand, where not.
Version 1.3 supports downloading and viewing Radiometrically Calibrated Color Images by Daniel Crotty in both Slideshows and Panoramas. This allows you to view panoramas in gorgeous approximately-true color, for a "realistic" view of the Martian surface.
Version 1.4 sees the release of the source code for the program under the GNU General Public License. I am making the source code available, warts and all, for educational purposes; a few people have expressed an interest in what makes MMB go. Perhaps there are also a few people out there with the time and interest to extend the program, or even create new programs (Midnight Saturn Browser, anyone?). I hope people will use the source code responsibly.
The program is basically just MER image browsing the way I (the author, Michael Howard) want to see it. Suggestions for features or improvements are welcome: midnightmarsbrowser@mac.com
Mac OS X users should download the Mac OS X-specific version of the program. All others should download the generic version.
On Windows and all platforms other than Mac OS X, you will first need to download and install Java if it's not already on your computer (version 1.4 or later is required). Go to http://www.java.com/ and click "Download Now".
Java3D is required to use the Virtual Reality Panorama feature. Java 3D for Mac OS X can be downloaded here: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/java3dandjavaadvancedimagingupdate.html. For Java 3D on Windows and other platforms go here: http://java.sun.com/products/java-media/3D/downloads/index.html.
To download the latest version of Midnight Mars Browser, please go to the Download page.
Midnight Mars Browser does not install any software components; you simply unpack the download, copy the directory to a good place on your hard drive, and run the program. To start MMB on Windows, double-click the MidnightMarsBrowser.bat file (you can create a shortcut on your desktop to run Midnight Mars Browser by right-clicking the MidnightMarsBrowser.bat file and selecting "Send To -> Desktop (create shortcut)"). On Mac OS X, double-click the Midnight Mars Browser program. On other platforms, execute the MidnightMarsBrowser.sh file, or execute the same java command contained in the MidnightMarsBrowser.sh file.
For information on using Midnight Mars Browser see the README file.
MMB requires a good network connection and *lots* of hard drive space if you're going to download a lot of images. Currently the entire raw image set is more than 7 gigabytes. Your computer should have at least 512MB of RAM for acceptable performance.
At the time of writing, Midnight Mars Browser has been tested on various versions of Windows with Java 1.4.2 and Java 1.5. I've also heard that people are using it on Linux and even Solaris. The Mac OS X version has been tested on on MacOS X 10.3 and 10.4. MMB is a pure Java program, so in theory it should work just fine on any platform that supports Java 1.4. If you are able to run it on other platforms/versions drop me a line at midnightmarsbrowser@mac.com.
The first thing to appear when Midnight Mars Browser starts up is the main window. The main window is always open while Midnight Mars Browser is running. It displays the most frequently used readouts and controls for the program. At the top of the main window, the local Mars time for each rover is displayed (accurate to within a minute or two, based on your computer's clock). Below that, the current Earth time (according to your computer) is displayed, followed by the last time Midnight Mars Browser started an update. Below that are buttons for the most commonly used Midnight Mars Browser features. The full set of Midnight Mars Browser options is available in the menus.
The "Automatic Updates" checkbox in the main window is used to turn automatic updates on or off. If "Automatic Updates" is on, Midnight Mars Browser will check for new Mars Rover raw images every hour. The automatic update happens on the minute of the hour specified in the "Auto Update Minute" option in the Preferences. For best results, make sure your computer's clock is set fairly accurately.
An automatic update does the same image update process that is described below, as if you'd pressed the "Update Now" button. But since it's automatic, you can leave Midnight Mars Browser on in the background and forget about it, and a new window will automatically appear when new images from Mars have arrived - almost like new email. "You've Got Mail... from Mars!"
The Update Status window is a text window that shows the status of an update. You can show this window by pressing the "Update Status" button in the main window, or by selecting the Window -> Update Status menu option. The Update Status window automatically appears when you start an update manually. You can close this window while the update is taking place, and open it again later. The window always retains the last 1000 text lines of status output. If there are errors in an update, they will appear in this window.
The first thing you will want to do in Midnight Mars Browser is run an Image Update to get the latest MER images. To do this you can press the Update Now button on the main window, or enable automatic updates by checking the Automatic Updates checkbox in the main window.
When you start an update manually, the Update Status window appears - see "Update Status," above. Automatic updates do not open the Update Status window, but you can see it by pressing the Update Status button on the main window or selecting the Window -> Update Status menu option.
During an update Midnight Mars Browser will check for new images at the Exploratorium site. MMB always remembers the last time images were obtained from the Exploratorium, so it will only download the latest images. For your first image update, MMB will attempt to download images from Exploratorium from the day you are running the update.
If MMB does not find new images at Exploratorium, next it will check the JPL raw images site for new images. The JPL raw images site always has a set of images marked as "NEW" - MMB will attempt to download only these images.
If MMB finds new raw images, it will download them. The "Update in Progress" Update Viewer window will appear and display the images as they are downloaded. You can close this window while the update is in progress; closing the window will not stop the download. You can re-open the window using the Window -> Update Viewer menu option.
You can stop an update in progress by selecting the Update -> Stop Update menu command.
After MMB has downloaded images for one of the rovers, it will try to generate new false-color and anaglyph (3D) images based on the new raw images. Just like downloading, the status of generating images is displayed in the Update Status window, and any generated images are displayed in the Update Viewer window as they are created.
At the end of an update, Midnight Mars Browser will try to download any new Midnight Mars Browser metadata that it can find from the Midnight Mars Browser website. The Midnight Mars Browser metadata provides the panorama definitions used by the Panorama feature, and text information about the rover sols displayed in the Sol Info window. New metadata is added all the time, as long as the Mars rovers keep sending back new images.
After an update is complete, the "Update in Progress" window is closed and slideshows of the new images are created, one slideshow window for each rover. You can review the images in the slideshow by bringing that window to the front and using the arrow keys and the navigation options under the Navigate menu, as described in Viewing Slideshows, below.
More advance imaged update options are available under the Update menu.
Slideshows of new images are automatically created to display updated images. You can also launch a slideshow yourself, by pressing the "New Slideshow..." button in the main window or selecting the File -> New Slideshow... menu command. At any time, you can change what images are displayed in a slideshow by selecting the Change Criteria... menu command in the Navigate menu.
When you create a new slideshow or change the criteria of an existing slideshow, the Slideshow Image Criteria dialog appears. This dialog allows you to specify what rover images are included in the slideshow. Slideshows can only display images from one rover at a time; the rover is selected in the dropdown menu at the top of the dialog. You can limit which sols (Mars rover days) are displayed by changing the values of the From Sol and To Sol fields. Below that are checkboxes to select the image types and rover cameras to include. You must select at least one Product Type (full frame, sub-frame (partial), etc.) and at least one raw image camera or generated image type. The "Quick Presets" dropdown menu above the checkboxes allows you to quickly select a particular set of images. For example, you could select "Forward Hazcam Left" from the Quick Presets dropdown menu, click "OK," and you would see a nice slideshow of the rover's forward hazard avoidance camera view as it travels around Mars. Uncheck the "Subframe" and "Other" product types so that any partial images are eliminated, and it's even better.
You can navigate a slideshow using the arrow keys or the menu commands under the Navigate menu. In particular, there are commands for jumping to the next or previous sol, or to the beginning or end of the slideshow, or to a specific sol.
A slideshow becomes a movie with a press of the space bar. You can also select the Play option in the Navigate menu to start playing the slideshow as a movie. Press the space bar again or select Navigate -> Stop Playing to stop the movie. Image speed adjustment and looping can be set in the Image Criteria Dialog, or the Midnight Mars Browser Preferences.
To view panoramas, press the View Panorama button on the main window or select File -> View Panorama. The Select Panorama dialog will appear. Use the controls at the top to choose what kinds of panoramas to view, then select a panorama from the list and click "View".
The "View orientation" popup menu in the Panorama selection dialog allows you to specify whether the panorama will be viewed in rover-relative orientation or ground-relative orientation. In rover-relative orientation, 0 degrees azimuth 0 degrees elevation is always the view straight forward from the rover. In ground-relative orientation, 0 degrees azimuth is facing North in the panorama, 180 degrees is facing South, etc. For panoramas where rover orientation data is publicly available (currently sols 1-360), ground-relative orientation also corrects for rover tilt so that the horizon appears level. For sols where the data is not yet available, "north" orientation is estimated in the metadata and rover tilt is not corrected.
The "Start resolution" popup menu in the Panorama selection dialog allows you to specify whether the panorama images will automatically be loaded in full resolution or half resolution after the thumbnails are loaded. As loading images in full resolution is time- and memory-intensive, thumbnails are always loaded first. The best overall compromise for browsing is probably "Navcam full", which automatically loads the Navcam images (which cover a larger area) in full resolution but does not automatically load the Pancam images. You can always press "F" or select the "Full Resolution" menu option to load all images in full resolution.
Use the arrow keys to pan left, right, up and down in one degree increments.
A and Z keys - zoom in and zoom out.
Use the shift key with the navigation keys to pan in five degree increments.
N key or Next Panorama menu option in the Navigate menu - go to the next panorama.
P key or Previous Panorama menu option - go to the previous panorama.
command-K or the Select New Panorama menu option - opens the Select Panorama dialog and choose a new panorama from a list.
G key - reset the view to 0 degrees azimuth, 0 degrees elevation, 120 degree field of view.
shift-G - reset the view to 180 degrees azimuth, 0 degrees elevation, 120 degree field of view.
Panorama mouse control is meant to be similar to Quicktime VR. When you drag the mouse in the panorama view window, movement is continuous in the direction that you drag the mouse until you release the mouse button. Unlike Quicktime VR, you can drag up and down using the right mouse button to zoom in and out in the panorama. Hold down the alt/option key on the Macintosh and drag up and down for the same effect.
The first time you look at a panorama, images may load more slowly, as thumbnail images need to be created. Subsequent loads happen more quickly as the thumbnail images have already been created.
If you see white spaces, that generally means that you have not yet downloaded the images in the panorama, unless they are still loading. Another reason could be if you have limited the panorama to show Pancam images of a particular filter which is not present.
If you see only black space, you are probably not facing any images. Use the navigation keys or select a different panorama
If you don't see any entries to select in the panorama dialog, you need to update your metadata: choose Update Metadata from the Update menu.
For performance reasons, panoramas start out in thumbnail mode, with images scaled down to 256x256 pixels. The "Start resolution" popup menu in the Panorama selection dialog controls whether the images are automatically loaded in full resolution (up to 1024x1024 pixels) after the thumbnails are loaded. You can press the F key or select the Full Resolution menu option in the Navigate menu to load all images in full resolution. Load status is shown in the window title bar.
Images are loaded as long as there is sufficient free memory; if the program runs out of memory, "out of memory" will appear in the title bar. MMB's Java memory allocation can be adjusted to allow more images in full resolution before running out of memory. See the "FAQ" section, below, for details.
Because panoramas often use the majority of available memory, automatic updates are disabled while any panorama is being viewed. This limitation may be addressed in a future release.
Midnight Mars Browser can download and display Daniel Crotty's Radiometrically Calibrated Color Images in both Slideshows and Panoramas, to provide an approximately true color view of Mars. Information on the method Daniel Crotty uses to generate these images is here.
To download the calibrated color images, select "Update -> Advanced Update Images...". From the "Update image from" popup menu select "lyle.org (Calibrated Color by Daniel Crotty)", specify the range of sols to download, and click Run Update. At the time of writing, calibrated color images were available for Sols 1 through 360 for both rovers. Release of calibrated color images is coincident with release of Mars Exploration Rover data on the PDS data archives.
To view calibrated color images in Slideshow, select "Calibrated Color (DC)" in the Image Criteria dialog.
To view calibrated color images in Panoramas, select View Panorama, or Navigate -> Select New Panorama... if you are already viewing a panorama. In the Panorama Criteria dialog, make sure the Pancam checkbox is checked. For View Mode, select either "calibrated color (DC) and raw images" or "calibrated color (DC) only".
The Image Info window displays information about an image. The information displayed, including time that the image was acquired, type of image, etc., is discovered from the image filename using the filename format specified by JPL (for raw images). A link to information on how to decode the filename is included in the Image Info window.
Image Info works with Slideshows or Panoramas. If a Slideshow window is the frontmost window, information for the image currently being displayed in the Slideshow is displayed in the Image Info window. If a Panorama window is the frontmost window, information for the image closest to the center of the panorama view is displayed. The information will be updated as you move around the panorama or slideshow, which may slow the program down slightly as new image information is displayed.
You can close this window if it gets in your way. To bring it back, select the Image Info menu command from the Window menu.
If you want to find out the information for a particular filename or pathname, you can paste the filename or pathname into the pathname field of the Image Info window and press Enter.
The Sol Info window displays information about the sol (Mars rover day) on which an image was acquired.
Sol Info works with Slideshows or Panoramas. If a Slideshow window is the frontmost window, sol information for the image currently being displayed in the Slideshow is displayed in the Sol Info window. If a Panorama window is the frontmost window, sol information for the image closest to the center of the panorama view is displayed.
You can close this window if it gets in your way. To bring it back, select the Sol Info menu command from the Window menu.
Use the A and Z keys. Or hold down the alt key and drag the mouse forward or backward.
Java 3D is only required for the Panorama feature. Slideshow and Update should work without it. (Make sure you have version 1.2.7 or later.)
However, the Panorama feature is really nice, so yes, you should really install Java 3D. It's a pity that Sun makes this somewhat less simple than it should be, but at least it is free.
The limit on how many images can be displayed in full resolution Panorama mode before running out of memory is determined by MMB's Java maximum heap size parameter (as well as how much memory you have on your machine). The heap size parameter is set to a certain amount to support people with average amounts of RAM but it can be adjusted upward if you have the memory on your machine to support it (at least 512Mb, preferably more like 1Gb).
The Java maximum heap size parameter is specified in the MidnightMarsBrowser.bat on Windows and the MidnightMarsBrowser.sh file on Unix/other. On Windows, you can edit the .bat file and change "-Xmx192m" to a higher number like "-Xmx256m" or even "-Xmx512m". "-Xmx512m" would be the highest value I'd try; that's 512Mb. On Unix/other, do the same in the .sh file. Mac OS X is a bit more involved; there you need to ctrl-click on the MidnightMarsBrowser executable and select "Show Package Contents", then edit the Contents/Info.plist file using TextEdit (search for "-Xmx"). Do this carefully.
It might be a proxy issue. Check your web browser, first to verify that you can access the Internet, then see if it is configured to use a proxy. If it is, you can specify the proxy host/port in the MMB Preferences dialog.
Other than that, you might try disabling your Internet security software temporarily and see if that is the culprit. According to one reliable source, Norton Internet Security can block later versions of MMB from accessing the Web. To our knowledge, there is no reason why Norton Internet Security should have such a problem; there might be a configuration change in the product that would allow MMB to function.
A few notes about this:
Midnight Mars Browser 1.5.2 is "Donationware". Please send whatever money you would pay for the program to the American Red Cross.
Midnight Mars Browser comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. Midnight Mars Browser is distributed under the GNU General Public License; see the enclosed LICENSE.txt file for the text of the license. Source code for the program is made available at http://midnightmarsbrowser.blogspot.com.