James Cameron Building 3D Camera for Mars Robotic Rover

Movie director James Cameron, of Avatar and Titanic fame, is helping to build a 3-D camera for the next robotic rover that NASA will send to Mars.

Photo: James Cameron Building 3D Camera for Mars Robotic Rover

James Cameron Building 3D Camera for Mars Robotic Rover

NASA announced this month that Cameron is working with Malin Space Science Systems Inc. of San Diego to build an updated camera that, if completed in time, will be installed on the Mars Science Laboratory rover, which has been dubbed Curiosity. The rover's cameras will be the machine's "science-imaging workhorse," according to the space agency.

Curiosity is scheduled to be launched in 2011, Computerworld reports.

CBS News reports that Cameron explained to NASA administrators that a rover with a 3D camera would help people connect with the mission.

The new 3D camera is now being built by Malin Space Science Systems and lists Cameron as a co-investigator in the project. The Curiosity rover has the official name Mars Science Laboratory and it is being sent to Mars to study whether or not the planet has or could support microbial life, DailyTech informs.