I made an animation of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter launch and trip to the Moon, based on the original launch date of Oct. 28:
http://cboh.org/~jmk/LRO.mpg
It's a large file, but the server bandwidth is pretty good, so download times shouldn't be too bad. Earth imagery is from Blue Marble and Moon imagery is from Clementine.
I understand that the actual trajectory varies a lot based on launch date, so I'll update this if new SPICE kernels are released.
That is novel! Very nice, and provides a great perspective on why the ground track for such a Earth departure "loops back" on itself.
I'm still trying to figure out how lunar orbit was achieved though...looked for all the "Moon" as if it was heading right for the center of the Moon; maybe was just the viewing angle?
Airbag
OK, I changed the ending of the animation to show more clearly what's going on with the LRO orbit. I also changed the song to something I actually have permission to use , "Epicentre" by a group called Carbon Based Lifeforms:
http://cboh.org/~jmk/LRO.mpg
That was a great trip ! Thanks captain ... wow
a few days left: http://planetary.org/special/messages/lro.html
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