Jeff pointed me to a very cool Java app that you can run on just about any platform including OS X and Redhat Linux. Maestro is a scaled-down version of the program that NASA scientists use to operate the mars rovers!
During the mission, updates will be released on this site containing real data from Mars that you can add to your copy of Maestro.
Sounds neat! In order to run Maestro on OS X you have to download the Java 3D Update from apple and install it.
You can then download the 27MB compressed disk image of Maestro for OS X
The base package apparently comes with data and images from tests in JPL’s rover test facility but you can download update packs from their website. The data is semi-complete datasets pulled straight down from Mars. There are currently two datasets available:
Update 1 – The first images from the Spirit rover at Gusev Crater, Mars, taken while the rover was first standing up, preparing for egress off of the lander.
Update 2 – The Spirit rover successfully egresses off of the lander and begins exploring the Martian surface taking the highest resolution images of Mars in history.
I’m installing it right now so we’ll see how it goes on my iBook ;)