Even if human spaceflight makes little scientific sense, its romance is bred into the American consciousness; particularly for those of us who grew up during the height of the Space Age in the late '50s. We knew that by the '90s we'd have bases on the moon, and maybe Mars. There's little chance of that now though, and little chance for most of us even going into space. But for those who dreamed of interplanetary flight, the Mars Explorer CD- ROM is probably the next best thing.
Using images pieced together by NASA's Viking photo-recon missions, Mars Explorer lets you scan the entire Martian surface in high and low resolutions, from 52 degrees north latitude to 50 degrees south latitude. You can even do things you couldn't do if you were there, like change the color of the landscape, break it down into shades of gray, or reshape it, stretching and compressing geographical features to bring out hidden details. You can also zoom in on details, boosting magnification from eight to 64 times original size. If you find an image you particularly like, you can save it as a PCX file, and use it with other graphics programs.
Mars Explorer isn't the personal space cruiser we were promised after Gagarin and Shepard took their rides, but it will do until the real thing comes along. - Richard Kadrey
Mars Explorer (for PC): $125. Virtual Reality Laboratories: +1 (805) 545 8515, fax +1 (805) 781 2259.
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