A year after its inception, Columbia County government offices are finding considerable worth in a program that mapped the county like Mars.

Last August, an SUV with a complicated camera rig mounted on its roof spent 2½ weeks patrolling the county, covering more than 1,130 miles and 2,500 sections of road. Its goal was to provide an accurate portrait of Columbia County in three dimensions. Called Earthmine, it’s the same technology that recently touched down on Mars with NASA’s Curiosity rover.