Large image (195kb 836x672 JPEG) here.
VRML scene in a new window here.
(requires a VRML 2.0 Browser Plugin. Best viewed with CosmoPlayer 2.1.1, blaxxun Contact 4.3, or ParallelGraphics' Cortona 2.2)

This is a re-creation in 3-dimensions of the moon ships braking for a landing. (Conceived by Wernher von Braun and rendered for the Collier's magazine space symposium by Chesley Bonestell) The image above is a screen shot of the VRML scene.

Those who are familiar with the original will notice that I've flipped the scene left-to-right. This is because I'm making use of a marvelous image taken by the Galileo spacecraft as it passed over the Moon's north pole on its way out to Jupiter. The image actually shows the same area on the moon which von Braun and Bonestell chose as a landing site (Sinus Roris near the Moon's north limb.) The Galileo image, however, was taken looking toward the West rather than the Easterly view depicted by Bonestell.

Here is another view of the same 3-D scene:

NOTE: the models are more detailed than one would like for ease of movement within the VRML scene; however, they are also less detailed than a dedicated space-art fan would like; many little details have been left off.

Next Image: Landing in Sinus Roris.
Return to the Bonestell Tribute.

Comments: Paul S. Hoffman
Home Page: http://www.digitalspaceart.com//