James Cameron Heads to Mars

With the phenomenal success of Avatar both at the box office and in DVD/blu-ray sales, there's really not much left in this world for James Cameron to accomplish.  So his next project will be taking place on an entirely different world altogether.

According to a report from the Pasadena Star News, Cameron has convinced NASA to buy a 3D camera to mount on the space rover Curiosity, which is set to launch its mission to Mars in 2011.

Plans to use a 3D camera had originally been scrapped in 2007 due to budget and scheduling issues, and a regular mast camera for Curiosity had already been built.  But after Cameron lobbied directly to NASA administrator Charles Bolden in January, the 3D camera plan is now back on, although it will be a challenge to get the new camera ready in time for the launch.

Scientists working on the project are excited about the possibility of being able to capture images on Mars such as moving clouds and dust devils in 3D.  Cameron is hopeful that whatever images the 3D camera captures will generate excitement about Curiosity's mission to Mars.

"It's a very ambitious mission. It's a very exciting mission," says Cameron. "(The scientists are) going to answer a lot of really important questions about the previous and potential future habitability of Mars."

It's also interesting to note that Avatar's entire worldwide box office take is actually higher than the $2.3 billion NASA is spending on this Mars mission.  I'm sure that helped convince NASA that using a 3D camera wasn't such a bad idea after all.

So unless Curiosity falls victim to some kind of Martian attack, hopefully we have a real 3D/IMAX Mars movie to look forward to in a few years.  That should be pretty cool.  I really wanted to see the Hubble 3D movie, but unfortunately Avatar's reign of terror at my local IMAX kept it from ever playing there.  This would be a good way to make up for that. 

Comments

[BatmanFan]

I hate James Cameron, he's way too over rated

[Noah]

I agree batmanfan