Data sources
Where every number comes from
Each figure on this site is listed here with its source. Where we computed a value (for example, signal delay from distance and the speed of light), the method is stated. Rounded figures are rounded from the cited value.
Figures
Luna · Campaign 01
| Figure | Value on site | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mean Earth–Moon distance | 384,400 km | NASA NSSDCA Moon Fact Sheet |
| One-way signal delay Computed: perigee 363,300 km and apogee 405,500 km divided by the speed of light (299,792 km/s). | 1.21–1.35 s (≈ 1.3 s) | NASA NSSDCA Moon Fact Sheet |
| Transit time Apollo crews reached lunar orbit about three days after launch. | ≈ 3 days | NASA: Apollo 11 mission overview |
| Radius, surface gravity, solar day, temperature range | 1,738 km · 1.62 m/s² · 29.5 d · 95–390 K | NASA NSSDCA Moon Fact Sheet |
| Sun elevation at the south pole Follows from the 1.54° tilt of the lunar spin axis to the ecliptic. | under ≈ 1.5–2° | NASA Science: Illumination map of the Moon's south pole |
| Shackleton crater size | ≈ 21 km across, ≈ 4 km deep | Zuber et al. 2012, Nature 486, 378 |
| South-pole terrain at 5 m per pixel Most 5 m pixels are interpolated between laser tracks. | LOLA DEM mosaic, 87–90° S | NASA GSFC PGDA: South Pole LOLA DEM mosaic Barker et al. 2021, Planetary and Space Science |
| Water in Cabeus crater regolith | 5.6 ± 2.9 % by mass | Colaprete et al. 2010, Science 330, 463 (LCROSS) |
| Surface radiation dose equivalent | 1.37 mSv/day; ≈ 2.6 × ISS | Zhang et al. 2020, Science Advances 6, eaaz1334 (Chang'e-4 LND) |
Mars · Campaign 02
| Figure | Value on site | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Distance from Earth | 54.6–401.4 million km | NASA NSSDCA Mars Fact Sheet |
| One-way signal delay Computed: distance ÷ speed of light. | 3.0–22.3 min | NASA NSSDCA Mars Fact Sheet |
| Hohmann transfer time Computed: half the period of an ellipse with semi-major axis (1.000 + 1.524)/2 AU. | ≈ 259 days | NASA NSSDCA Mars Fact Sheet |
| Launch window interval The Earth–Mars synodic period. | ≈ 26 months (779.9 days) | NASA NSSDCA Mars Fact Sheet |
| Radius, gravity, sol, sunlight, surface pressure | 3,396 km · 3.73 m/s² · 24 h 39.6 min · 586 W/m² · 6.4 mbar | NASA NSSDCA Mars Fact Sheet |
| Surface and cruise radiation dose | 0.67 mSv/day (surface) · 1.8 mSv/day (cruise) | Hassler et al. 2014, Science 343 (MSL RAD, surface) Zeitlin et al. 2013, Science 340, 1080 (MSL RAD, cruise) |
| Exposed mid-latitude ice sheets | > 100 m thick, 1–2 m below the surface | Dundas et al. 2018, Science 359, 199 |
| Perchlorate in soil (Phoenix) | ≈ 0.4–0.6 % by weight | Hecht et al. 2009, Science 325, 64 |
| Dust storms | Regional yearly; global every few Mars years | NASA Science: Mars facts |
Ceres · Campaign 03
| Figure | Value on site | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mean distance from the Sun, diameter, rotation, orbital period | 2.77 AU · 939 km · 9.07 h · 4.6 yr | JPL Small-Body Database: 1 Ceres |
| One-way signal delay Computed: closest Earth distance ≈ 1.58 AU, farthest ≈ 4.0 AU (aphelion 2.99 AU + 1.02 AU), divided by the speed of light. Changed from 15–31 min in the design draft. | ≈ 13–33 min | JPL Small-Body Database: 1 Ceres |
| Hohmann transfer time Computed from semi-major axes of 1.00 and 2.77 AU (≈ 15.5 months). | ≈ 15 months | JPL Small-Body Database: 1 Ceres |
| Surface gravity Computed from GM = 62.63 km³/s² and mean radius 469.7 km. | 0.28 m/s² | JPL Small-Body Database: 1 Ceres Park et al. 2016, Nature 537, 515 |
| Sunlight at Ceres Computed: 1361 W/m² ÷ r², r = 2.77 AU (2.55–2.99 AU). | ≈ 178 W/m² (152–209 W/m²) | JPL Small-Body Database: 1 Ceres |
| Maximum daytime surface temperature Preliminary Dawn VIR result. | ≈ 235 K | Tosi et al. 2015, LPSC 46, 1745 |
| Occator bright deposits | Sodium carbonate | De Sanctis et al. 2016, Nature 536, 54 |
| Brine reservoir beneath Occator | ≈ 40 km deep | Raymond et al. 2020, Nature Astronomy 4, 741 |
| Dawn mission timeline | Ceres orbit March 2015 – end of mission 2018 | NASA Science: Dawn mission |
Europa · Campaign 04
| Figure | Value on site | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Jupiter's mean distance from the Sun, sunlight | 5.20 AU · ≈ 50 W/m² | NASA NSSDCA Jupiter Fact Sheet |
| One-way signal delay Computed: Earth–Jupiter distance 588.5–968.5 million km ± Europa's 0.67 million km orbit, divided by the speed of light. Changed from 35–52 min in the design draft. | ≈ 33–54 min | NASA NSSDCA Jupiter Fact Sheet |
| Hohmann transfer to Jupiter Computed from semi-major axes of 1.00 and 5.20 AU (≈ 2.73 years). | ≈ 2.7 years | NASA NSSDCA Jupiter Fact Sheet |
| Radius, orbital period, surface gravity Gravity computed from mass 4.80 × 10²² kg and radius. | 1,561 km · 3.55 d · 1.31 m/s² | NASA NSSDCA Jovian Satellite Fact Sheet |
| Ice shell thickness Shown on the site as 15–30 km. Changed from 15–25 km in the design draft to include the 2026 Juno result. | 15–25 km (NASA) · 29 ± 10 km (Juno, regional) | NASA Science: Europa facts NASA JPL: Juno measures thickness of Europa's ice shell |
| Surface radiation The design draft quoted ≈ 5.4 Sv/day. We could not trace that figure to a primary source, so it is not used. | Alters ice to ≈ 10–20 cm (equator), ≈ 1 cm (high latitudes) | Nordheim et al. 2018, Nature Astronomy 2, 673 |
| Maximum surface temperature | ≈ 130 K | NASA JPL Photojournal PIA01144 (Galileo PPR) |
| Europa Clipper and JUICE | Clipper launched 14 Oct 2024, arrives April 2030 · JUICE launched April 2023 | NASA Science: Europa Clipper ESA: Juice |
Proxima b · Campaign 05
| Figure | Value on site | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Distance | 4.24 ly (1.30 pc) | NASA Exoplanet Archive: Proxima Cen |
| Orbital period, orbital distance, minimum mass Minimum mass (m sin i); the true mass is unknown. The design draft called it an Earth-mass planet; the site now says at least 1.07 Earth masses. | 11.19 d · 0.0486 AU · 1.07 ± 0.06 M⊕ | Faria et al. 2022, A&A 658, A115 (ESPRESSO) Suárez Mascareño et al. 2020, A&A 639, A77 (1.17 ± 0.09 M⊕) |
| Habitable zone, starlight received, likely tidal locking | ≈ 0.65 × Earth's insolation | Anglada-Escudé et al. 2016, Nature 536, 437 |
| Host star | M5.5V, ≈ 2,900 K | NASA Exoplanet Archive: Proxima Cen |
| Naked-eye superflare (2016) | — | Howard et al. 2018, ApJL 860, L30 |
| Transit at 0.2 c Breakthrough Starshot targets roughly 15–20 % of light speed. | ≈ 20 years (4.24 ÷ 0.2 = 21.2 yr) | Breakthrough Initiatives: Starshot |
Planet imagery
| Image | Credit | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| Moon LRO LROC WAC colour mosaic (CGI Moon Kit, 4096 × 2048) and LOLA-derived normal map | NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio; NASA LRO LROC and LOLA teams NASA SVS: CGI Moon Kit · NASA images and media guidelines | Public domain (NASA media guidelines; credit requested) |
| Earth (day) Blue Marble Next Generation, July 2004, topography and bathymetry | NASA Earth Observatory, Reto Stöckli (NASA GSFC) NASA Earth Observatory: Blue Marble Next Generation | Public domain (NASA media guidelines) |
| Earth (night lights) Black Marble 2016, 3 km; lights isolated by brightness threshold | NASA Earth Observatory, Joshua Stevens; Suomi NPP VIIRS data, Miguel Román (NASA GSFC) NASA Visible Earth: Black Marble 2016 | Public domain (NASA media guidelines) |
| Earth (clouds) Blue Marble cloud composite, 2048 × 1024 | NASA GSFC, Reto Stöckli; enhancements by Robert Simmon NASA Earth Observatory: Blue Marble | Public domain (NASA media guidelines) |
| Mars Viking MDIM 2.1 colourised global mosaic, 1 km JPEG | NASA/JPL/USGS USGS Astrogeology: Mars Viking colorized global mosaic | Public domain (US government work) |
| Ceres Dawn Framing Camera global mosaic, 400 m (Oct 2015); greyscale | NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA USGS Astrogeology: Ceres Dawn FC global mosaic 400 m | NASA mission data released without restriction through the Planetary Data System; mosaic produced by DLR. Credited as requested. |
| Jupiter Cassini global cylindrical map, PIA07782 (3601 × 1801) | NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute NASA Photojournal: PIA07782 | Public domain (NASA/JPL image use policy) |
| Europa Voyager–Galileo SSI global mosaic, 500 m; greyscale, warm tint added in rendering | NASA/JPL/USGS USGS Astrogeology: Europa Voyager–Galileo SSI global mosaic | Public domain (US government work) |
| Proxima b Procedurally generated surface. Artist's impression: no image of Proxima b exists. | Galaxy Campaign NASA Exoplanet Archive: Proxima Cen | — |
The 3D scene on the home page is not to scale: distances and sizes are compressed so every destination fits in one flight.
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