Click the map to pick any point from 75°S to the pole.
Lunar Site Explorer Sunlight and Earth contact at lunar landing sites · Team ARSMAN
Data: NASA/JPL Horizons · NASA LRO LOLA via PDS Geosciences · NASA SVS CGI Moon Kit (LROC WAC mosaic, ASU) · NASA Blue Marble · Yale Bright Star Catalogue · DSN sites from Wikipedia · 3D by three.js. Earthshine is shown brighter than in reality. For learning, not for mission planning.
Every point of the 60 km area is checked hour by hour against its own horizon from the real terrain. Show the results with “Colour by” at the bottom of the 3D view.
Slope is measured over 200 m. Rocks and small craters are too small for this map, and they matter for a safe landing.
Rows: this site and your comparison list. Columns: landing day. Click a square to load that site and day.
Example values: change them. Not modelled: heaters, temperature and ageing. Sunlight: 1361 W per m², with no atmosphere.
Press “Draw route”, then click points on the terrain in the Site view. The drive starts at the clock time.
Example speed: change it. Slopes come from the 100 m terrain map; boulders and small craters are not in the data.
Nothing to compare yet. Load a site, then press “Add to comparison”. Tip: add the same site one week later to see what a launch delay does.
Six challenges, checked automatically as you explore.