Plan Scrapped for 3-D Zoom Camera on Next Mars Rover
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| James Cameron is shown during a round table discussion at the climate rally during the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day in Washington. (AP Photo/FHE, Stephen J Boitano) |
A high-resolution 3-D camera that Avatar director James Cameron was helping to build for NASA’s next Mars rover won’t fly after all. NASA said on March 25, 2011, that work on the zoom camera was halted because there wasn’t enough time to thoroughly test it before launch.
Cameron lobbied NASA last year to revive a plan to give rover Curiosity a better set of eyes and worked with engineers to build it.
Project scientist John Grotzinger said Curiosity’s current camera is powerful enough to meet mission goals.
In a statement released by NASA, Cameron said he’s confident future missions will benefit from the work he and others invested even if Curiosity won’t.
The $2.5 billion Curiosity is scheduled to launch later this year and land on Mars in August 2012.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press
