Michelin Guide to the Solar System

Sarah Lawday, Jérémy Lebreton, Axel Richard, Florence Gris

Illkirch, april 2008

The interest of the Applet "Michelin Guide to the Solar System".

Since the origins of humanity, human kind has always tried to push its limits and capabilities further. In the 20th century, we almost had conquered all the continents of our planet, a last boundary remained, the one that separates the tiny world we live on from the infinity of the Universe… Despite the few probes we have sent in the Solar System in the last 40 years, and even if we already envisage sending men visiting planet Mars until 2030, the exploration of the planets remains a daring adventure with still frequent failures. From fundamental research to the spiritual research of the origins of life, including the simple dazzling impression created by the beauty of the Universe, or even the darker motivations dated from the Cold War, the reasons for this exploration are diverse, but it is not reserved to science-fiction amateurs or other futurologists. Now comes the question of how to do it … Anyone who has observed a dynamic view of the Solar System showing the planets in perpetual movement, each with a different velocity and a different period, and separated with increadibly large distances, shall understand that it is necessary to develop specific tools that permit to determine the shortest and the most economical itineraries. This is the aim of our Michelin Guide to the Solar System.

Our team:

Otherwise MIGUI is an interactive applet that displays the planets' orbits in the solar system in 3D and permits an animation of the motions of the planets.

Star Trek pictures ; )