Figuring out what it is Endeavour has just encountered in space has gotten easier with major work on scanning systems completed recently. One piece of work is a significant upgrade of the scan analysis panel.

As well as providing a 3D visualisation of a scanned object, the panel can now also display an analysis of the materials making up the object, represented as one of a growing list of composition classes.

Scan results are displayed in the new composition module, a multi-purpose visualisation tool. The materials making up an object are displayed based on their proportions, with additional information such as density, temperature and additional analysis available by tapping a corresponding button.

The composition module can combine data from different sources to assist with analysis. The source of EM being output by an object can be overlaid on an outline of the object's structure to help show the location of engines, weapons, transmitters, etc. Ideally, you'd use that as a guide to zoom in on the 3D visualisation - so our ongoing efforts to improve 3D resolution is important.

The material analysis capability is achieved using Spectral Composition Analysis (SCA) active scanning technology.

The scan analysis panel also supports a second type of active scan - Spectroscopic Structural Analysis (SSA) - which uses higher frequency EM to penetrate the surface of an object and provide an analysis of its interior composition. We're currently getting pretty mixed results with the resolution of interior scan 3D visualisations, which remains a work in progress.

An online course for these systems is in production and will be added to the Academy soon.