On Monday I posted an item about the Maestro software program being used by NASA to coordinate data distribution (including all those photos and science instrument results) among members of the Mars Exploration Rover team. I just downloaded the first Maestro data file (approximately 4 MB) and installed it (you gotta have already installed the 35 MB Maestro program first) and WOW. This is as close to being on Mars as you can get. Audio communications replay files from the landing, all the downloaded pictures from Mars with all sorts of nifty display options, programming the Spirit lander…again, WOW. Keep a pair of red-blue 3D glasses handy. The attached Conductor help files walk you through everything you need to know – good job, NASA. If some enterprising hacker manages to splice into the communications line between JPL and the radio antennas, he could take control of Spirit with this program. It’s SimMars, only for real. What are you waiting for? Begin download, Earthling!