History
Back to the Moon! | Update 36.1
Apr 29th
Artemis II Mission
The recent Artemis II mission swept around the far side of the Moon, taking humanity farther than they’ve ever been from Earth. Experience it yourself in our new simulation, Artemis II: Humanity’s Farthest Journey.
Orion Spacecraft
The Orion Integrity spacecraft from the Artemis II mission is now in Universe Sandbox. See it in our simulation of the Artemis II mission or add it to any simulation.
More Highlights
Object cohesion, how tightly bound together an object is, is now simulated based on its composition. This impacts object deformation and fragmentation rates and prevents fast spinning objects like asteroid 2014 RC from immediately ripping themselves apart.
Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 36.1.
Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.
See Asteroid 2012 TC4’s Trip Past Earth
Oct 13th
On October 12, 2017, asteroid 2012 TC4 passed Earth early in the morning, flying above Antarctica at around 1:42am EDT.
See its close approach in Universe Sandbox ²:
Home > Open > Historical > 2012 TC4 Passes Earth on October 12, 2017
The roughly house-sized asteroid passed just a bit beyond the orbits of communications satellites, well within the Moon’s orbit. This wasn’t close enough to pose any threat, but its orbit was slightly changed by Earth’s gravity, as you can see in the GIF above from Universe Sandbox ². Learn more on NASA’s website
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Russian Moon Landing that Never Was
Oct 15th
The history of the Russian’s attempt to land a human on the Moon is fascinating. Here’s a great collection of images of their lunar lander from Wired:
Inside The Soviet’s Secret Failed Moon Program
We Landed on the Moon 41 Years Ago
Jul 20th
Today marks the 41st anniversary of humanity landing on the moon. Let’s go back soon.
More information