There may be a dearth of 3D material available at the moment, but this is ridiculous. Avatar director James Cameron has been in negotiations to put a 3D camera on Curiosity, the next Mars rover due for launch in 2011.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was initially hostile to the idea since it’s already behind schedule and facing potential budget cuts, but Cameron has apparently talked them round and San Diego-based Malin Space Science Systems has been given the go-ahead to develop the compact device.
It’s thought that the camera, which will be installed on one of Curiosity’s masts along with other fixed focus cameras, will be developed from Cameron’s work on Avatar, for which he helped create the Fusion Camera System, a lightweight 3D digicam operation. Early reports suggest that it may be capable of filming at ten frames per second – not quite the HD effect we’ve become used to, but fast enough to see clouds, dust storms or little green men on the move.
It’s not yet clear if the cameras will only be recording scientific images as Curiosity searches for microbial life on the red planet, but Cameron has expressed a desire to create a 3D documentary about the mission, the better to explain it to the inhabitants of Earth. If all goes well, the Avatar director’s next blockbuster could really come from another planet.