This week’s free 3D printable model comes from NASA on Sketchfab. Previously covered on 3DPI, the Block Island Meteorite was a mysterious meteor discovered by the Mars Opportunity Rover in 2009. With a width of about 2/3 of a meter, or two feet, Block Island is so far the largest meteor discovered on the planet. It was recently 3D printed by GoEngineer for NASA JPL scientists to have a 1:1 copy of the rock on Earth.
The recent I chose this model for this week’s free 3D printable is that NASA has just released an online application with which anyone can explore the surface of the Red Planet. Mars Trek is a 3D visualization tool that allows you to scan Mars, including annotated landmarks, using 50 years worth of data. This tool will be used to determine the next Mars rover landing in 202 and to plan a human mission to Mars the decade after that.
NASA has also released an app called Explore Curiosity, which gives users the ability to drive around a Mars simulation from the perspective of the Curiosity rover, which landed on the planet in 2012. Kevin Hussey, manager of the Visualization Applications and Development group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said of the tools, “We’ve done a lot of heavy 3-D processing to make Experience Curiosity work in a browser. Anybody with access to the web can take a journey to Mars.” Interestingly, NASA will be using the Microsoft HoloLens to develop a tool for virtually exploring the Red Planet, as well.
If you decide to take a virtual trip to Mars, you may need NASA’s 3D printable Extravehicular Mobility Unit to survive the atmosphere.
