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Space Topics: Space Imaging

Free Software for Viewing Space Image Data

Some mission data can be downloaded from the Internet in formats like JPEG or GIF that are compatible with almost all commercially available and public domain image processing software programs and Web browsers.  However, most archived data is in a format like VICAR or PDS, which is not easily readable by standard software.  Fortunately, there is public domain software available that can open most VICAR and PDS images and convert them to more familiar image formats:

NASAView (Win / Mac / Linux / Solaris)

Download from: http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/software_download.cfm
NASAView is produced by the PDS and can open and display PDS format images and associated header information through a simple graphical user interface.  It can also open some VICAR format images.  Once opened, individual images can be saved in GIF or JPEG format.

IMG2PNG (Win)

Download from http://www.mmedia.is/bjj/utils/img2png/
IMG2PNG is produced by Björn Jónsson.  It is a command-line program that can convert an entire folder's worth of PDS or VICAR formatted files to PNG format, which can be displayed by most Web browsers and standard image software.

Mariner, Venera, and Viking Image Browsers (Win)

Download from http://members.tripod.com/petermasek/marinerall.html
These tools for viewing Mariner 6, 7, 9, and 10; Venera 15 and 16; and Viking Orbiter image data were written by Piotr Masek.  Once opened, individual images can be saved in BMP or FITS format.

ImageJ (Win / Mac / Linux / Solaris)

Download from http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/
ImageJ is an open-source Java-based image processing package.  With help from the PDS Reader plugin, it can open most PDS formatted raw images.  ImageJ can save images in a variety of formats, including TIFF, GIF, JPEG, AVI, and BMP.  It can also be used for basic processing tasks such as creating color images, anaglyphs, and animations.