GRANDTOUR can simulate space as
seen from the Voyager and Giotto spacecraft. In
addition, GRANDTOUR can
generate scenes from arbitrary points in space or the
Earth, with the
spacecraft visible to the observer. The planet, moons,
and rings of
interest (or comet, nucleus, and tail), stars, the
sun, and the
spacecraft are all accurately drawn with wireframe
representations.
Hidden line removal is done for the body surfaces. The
motions of the
bodies themselves are highly accurate, with errors no
greater than 500
kilometers. The user has considerable control over the
time step, field of
view, etc., and many frames per second are typically
generated.
The program was originally developed at the Jet
Propulsion
Laboratory by John D. Callahan to assist in the
analysis of science and optical navigation
data. In addition, the program was filmed by the BBC
as part of a NOVA
documentary on the Voyager Uranus encounter, and by
the Four Point
Entertainment Company for a commercially available
video on Halley's
Comet. Program conveniently runs from any Windows/DOS.

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