Science writer Kevin Fitzgerald gives us a sneak preview of the new Yale-Peabody Museum exhibit "Martian Perspectives," to open on January 22nd. Learn more about the Red Planet, our mysterious celestial neighbor, up close via high-tech 3-D. Brian and Jeffery Ambroziak, two of the inventors of this technique (called Infinite Perspective Projection), will be on hand to answer visitors' questions about it.

"Martian Perspectives" at the Yale-Peabody
by Kevin Fitzgerald

Besides the Earth (and Moon), the planet we hear the most about is Mars, fourth planet from the Sun. The science media, a slew of NASA robot missions, science fiction literature, and the entertainment industry have kept Mars constantly and permanently in the public consciousness.

The Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven will be contributing to public awareness of our neighbor world Mars, space exploration and the spirit of the new millennium with an exhibit, "Martian Perspectives: 3-D Images of the Red Planet," opening on Saturday, January 22nd. Entertainment and education, including a puppet show and science fiction movies (one in 3-D), talks by experts and a 3-D viewing of Martian terrain photography, will define this special day.

For both fun and serious aspects of Martian Perspectives, Peabody staff will be giving every participant a pair of colored spectacles, with a red lens and a blue, the kind people used to get at movie theaters for 3-D films. You'll need them for watching the 3-D science fiction movie and viewing photos of the real Martian terrain, taken by NASA probes, in 3-D. This may be the next best thing to being on Mars, and without the uncomfortable conditions established there by nature. Closer to home and the Peabody will be a similar overhead scene of New Haven, viewable in 3-D with the same specs. This display of landscapes will be open to public viewing at least until April.

The 3-D technique used is an upgraded version of an older one: two original scenes, photographed at slightly different angles, are reproduced in different colors. The colored specs make the double image seem to overlap and merge in the eyes of the viewer. The method mimics the 3-D capability of our naturally made 3-D vision: either eye sees things from a slightly different angle than the other, and the brain translates this difference into depth vision.

This new, high-tech 3-D viewing technique was invented by the Ambroziak brothers, Brain and Jeffrey, with Dr. Russell Ambroziak. Called Infinite Perspective Projection (IPR), this technology is currently being used by NASA. Unlike older versions of 3-D rendering, IPR does away with distortions near the periphery of 3-D images. The Ambroziak brothers, who live in New Haven, will be at the "Martian Perspectives" exhibit in person, at 3:00 p.m. on January 22nd, to answer questions and autograph copies of their book "Infinite Perspectives: Two Thousand Years of Three-Dimensional Mapmaking."

There are two competing and overlapping versions of Mars in the public eye, the realistic one revealed by space science and the other, a multifaceted, fictional dreamscape of monsters and heroes. The Peabody will present both aspects, real and fictional, past and present. Says Peabody Events Coordinator Loukas Barton, "science fiction is rooted in science. We want to see if we can use this sort of format in a science museum, i.e., using science fiction to attract people to a science exhibit."

At 11:00, children and parents alike can enjoy a puppet show, "Mystery on Mars," by Betty Baisden. The two Mars-theme movies will be "Invaders From Mars" (the 1953 version in 3-D), showing at 1:00 p.m., and "It Came From Outer Space" (also 1953 but no 3-D), at 3:45 p.m.

The real Mars, which we've come to know mostly from robot probes, is distinctly unappetizing and dull compared to the numerous science fiction versions. Mars is dry and cold, its atmosphere thin and poisonous, its polar ice caps a frozen slush of water and carbon dioxide. If there's life of any sort there, it must be very simple, very hardy, or both.

Yet Mars surprises as much as it disappoints. Every time scientists are about to write off any possibility of native Martian life, a new clue arises from some unexpected source. When the Mariner I probe drifted by Mars in November, 1964, and sent back the first detailed photos of the cratered Martian surface, with its ghost of an atmosphere, we said our reluctant good-byes to canals and seasonal vegetation. Now, we have in our hands meteorites that show every indication of being tiny pieces of Mars, blasted from their home world by meteorite impacts, recently recovered in Antarctica, and riddled with what may be fossilized remains of ancient Martian microorganisms. Once again, Mars beckons, even without pipelines and shambling, tentacled natives.

To mark the latest, most significant Mars-related find, the Peabody will display a small piece of one of the Mars-origin meteorites found in Antarctica. The display fragment was chipped from a larger sample sent to the Yale geology department for analysis.

The curator for "Mars Perspectives" is Karl Turekian, Yale Professor of Geology and Geophysics.

The Yale-Peabody Museum is located on Whitney Avenue in New Haven. Admission costs are $5 for adults and $3 for ages 3-15 and seniors. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday thru Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Parking in the adjacent lot on Whitney Avenue is free on weekends.

For directions and general information, call INFOTAPE: (203) 432-5050. For more on the Yale-Peabody and upcoming events, visit the website, http://www.peabody.yale.edu/