Everything in 3D

All the 3D views on this site. Each says what it shows and what it does not. Most open on their own page; the rest are tools further down another page, behind its "Show in 3D" button. This page only shows pictures; it loads no 3D code.

On the Moon

The Moon against black space, lit from one side, with the line between day and night crossing its face.

The Moon, right nowWhere resource missions have gone or plan to go, lit as it is nowOpen the live view

The Moon's south polar region from a low angle, with long shadows across its craters and ridges.

The lunar south poleMission sites up close, and the ground in permanent shadowOpen the live view Measuring toolA 3D relief model of the lunar south pole, from LOLA elevation dataOpen the live view

Asteroids

Where the asteroids areAsteroids that mission records name, on their orbits, and how far each gotOpen the live view

Asteroid Bennu, a grey, diamond-shaped rubble pile scattered with boulders, lit from one side against black space.

BennuSampled by OSIRIS-REx. NASA's shape modelOpen the live view

The same ground after the touch-and-go, with a shallow crater where the sampler met the surface.

Bennu's sample siteBefore and after OSIRIS-REx touched it. NASA's modelsOpen the live view

Asteroid Ryugu, a grey spinning-top shape seen from the side, with boulders on its surface, lit from one side against black space.

RyuguSampled by Hayabusa2. JAXA's shape modelOpen the live view

Asteroid Apophis as a smooth, lumpy grey shape without visible boulders, lit from one side against black space.

ApophisA mission target. A preliminary radar shapeOpen the live view

Three asteroids at one scale

Three grey asteroid shapes in a row against black space, drawn at the same scale: Ryugu, large and diamond-shaped; Bennu, about half as wide and also diamond-shaped; and Apophis, smaller, lumpier and smoother. — Left to right: Ryugu, about 1,019 m across; Bennu, about 567 m across; Apophis, about 410 m across. One scale and one light for all three. Apophis's shape is a preliminary radar model, so it shows far less surface detail than the other two. Shapes: Ryugu from ISAS/JAXA (Watanabe and others, 2019; University of Aizu, JAXA & collaborators); Bennu from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio, OSIRIS-REx data (NASA/University of Arizona/CSA/York University/MDA); Apophis from Lawrence and Benner (2026), NASA Planetary Data System, a preliminary radar model. Converted to metres and rendered together by SpaceMiningData; the pictures are ours.

Instruments and tools

An illustrative 3D model of the MOXIE instrument cut open, its stack of thin cells glowing between two heater plates.

How MOXIE made oxygenA processing demonstration on Mars, not a deliveryOpen the live view MOXIE: inspect the partsAn illustrative layout, on the MOXIE mission recordOpen the live view PlanetVac, TRIDENT and TAGSAMThree sampling tools in illustrative 3D, with what each reportedOpen the live view PlanetVacHow gas picks up lunar soil, in illustrative 3DOpen the live view TRIDENTHow the drill turns, hammers and extends, in illustrative 3DOpen the live view TAGSAMHow OSIRIS-REx sampled Bennu with gas, in illustrative 3DOpen the live view

Related: Lunar water, step by step, which links each step to places on the 3D Moon · Has anyone delivered a resource?