Randy sargent remembers the first time he explored the surface of Mars. It was 2004, and he was working as a computer scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California. The space agency's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity had just landed on the planet's surface, and each rover carried a panoramic camera system designed to take a series of photographs that could be stitched together back on Earth. "Seeing those panoramas, I was amazed at the sense of being present on Mars," Sargent says. "Once the image is above a certain size it's very explorable. Suddenly your navigating skills kick in. You can move around, remember locations and return to them. You lose yourself in it."
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