Artemis II interactive 3D animation

Name: Artemis II interactive 3D animation
Availability: InStock
Author: kvsankar_

by kvsankar_·Apr 2, 2026·3 points·0 comments

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AI Analysis

●●SolidEye CandyCozyNiche Gem

Real JPL ephemerides data with Earth-Moon reference frames and accurate sunlight rendering.

Strengths

•Uses actual NASA JPL HORIZONS ephemerides for scientifically accurate orbit predictions.
•Multiple camera views including craft-centric, Moon-centric, and free-form rotation.
•Part of larger project covering all lunar missions with available orbit data.

Weaknesses

•Space visualizations exist from NASA Eyes, Celestia, and other established tools.
•Educational value is real but audience is inherently narrow.

Post Description

I have put together an interactive, scientific, 3D/2D, to-scale animation of the Artemis II mission based on orbit data from NASA JPL.

You can view it here: https://sankara.net/astro/lunar-missions/mission.html?missio...

Features available:

- Real-world orbit data and predictions based on JPL/NASA HORIZONS interface - 2D and 3D - Earth centric or Moon centric views - Earth-Moon relative reference frame - Any camera view (free-form; Craft/Moon/Earth to Craft/Moon/Earth) - Event meta data (orbit maneuvers like TLI) - Realistic textures for Earth and Moon in 3D mode - Astronomically correct rendering of sunlight on Earth and Moon, poles, polar axes, and stellar background - Camera controls (pan, zoom, rotate), timeline controls, visibility controls - A Joy ride feature

This project is part of a larger effort to capture the orbits of all lunar missions wherever orbit data is available: https://sankara.net/astro/lunar-missions/

The software is open source at: https://github.com/kvsankar/moon-mission/ Hope you like it! Thanks for your time.

This project started out in 2014 as a 2D animation for India's Mars Orbiter Mission. I added 3D support for Chandrayaan 2 in 2019. And made it responsive for Chandrayaan 3 in 2023.

There are still some wrinkles with mobile views - trying to fix them. I will be grateful for your feedback. Thanks!