Virtual reality in space. A NASA researcher working with stereo image pairs of the Martian landscape. The images were made by a computer but based on imagery from a Viking spacecraft. They are used to simulate stereo video channels sent to Earth by a rover vehicle. These would be linked to a Virtual Reality headset, allowing the vehicle to be 'virtually driven' by an operator on Earth or in a spacecraft in orbit around Mars. A prototype headset is at top left. This research is being conducted at NASA's Ames Research Center in California.