The Iris Project - Making Mars Speak Latin

Making Mars Speak Latin

The Iris Project is excited to have been invited to take part in the NASA HiRISE project run by the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

The HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is the most powerful one of its kind ever sent to another planet. Its high resolution allows us to see Mars like never before, and helps other missions choose a safe spot to land for future exploration. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. and is operated by the University of Arizona.

The HiRISE team has created an innovative approach with the HiTranslate Project: a call for volunteers to help translate over 1,300 captioned images into as many languages as possible. We’ve been fortunate enough to have been asked to produce the Latin translations, using a team of volunteers who work with Iris.

Alongside this, Iris is also creating an outreach project, "Making Mars Speak Latin", which will engage schools and communities in this exciting project merging classics and science! This will involve monthly meetings for interested people to come and find out about the project and how it is progressing, as well as talks to schools about the project with an opportunity to engage in the scheme.

If you would like to join our team of translators, please get in touch with us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!