I am not happy with the current rate of return of imagery from Mars Global Surveyor, and with the small amount of color imagery being returned as well.

I have a few questions.

First, is the amount of recieving antenna time a key constraint here? Would the use of other nations' antennas allow more imagery to be returned? Aside from European or Japanese antenna, could antenna in the Ukraine or Russia be used for this purpose? I understand that there may be technical constraints on this, but do they really hold up in todays times?

Second, I wonder when the data will be released in more usable form. I see where the USGS is producing maps from earlier data, but computers have replaced paper for a large part in conveying information today. Data in a form which is understandable by "flight simulator" type virtual reality programs should be being generated, and it should have already begun in a standard 1-meter resolution format, with areas where only lower resolution data is available filled with repeated 1 meter cells.

While the drawing of maps may aid in the understanding of formations by a limited number of people, virtual reality programs should make it easier to work with the data.

ep