Orbital Memories

A postcard from orbit, with your face in the helmet.

Fly a spacecraft 408 km above Earth, step outside on a spacewalk, then turn the view into a postcard for someone you love, with a message in your own words.

Make your postcard Take a spacewalk

Runs in your browser. Best on a laptop or desktop with a webcam.

Orbital Memories key art: an astronaut reaching out through a wooden frame above Earth, with a satellite and a space station in the distance
Orbital Memories key art

A gift for someone back on Earth

"I thought of you, even from up here."

Very few people will ever see Earth from orbit. Orbital Memories lets you go there for a while: look down at the oceans and the city lights, float outside the spacecraft, and bring home something to give.

The postcard carries your face, the view behind you, and a message in your own words. It's for a parent who can't travel, a friend who lives far away, or a child who dreams of space.

How it works

  1. The spacecraft cabin, with two pilot seats and the round hatch ahead

    Fly the cockpit

    Look around the cabin and steer the ship while Earth drifts past the windows. Point the view at the space station, a satellite, the Moon or Earth.

  2. An astronaut floating out through the round hatch toward Earth

    Step outside

    Open the hatch and float out above the planet. Move freely around the spacecraft while radio calls from mission control come through.

  3. A finished postcard with a face in the helmet

    Make your postcard

    Take a photo with your webcam or upload one. Your face appears inside the visor with Earth behind you. Add a message, choose a frame, then download or share it.

The postcard studio

Everything happens in your browser.

  • Your photoFrom your webcam or an upload, with the background removed automatically.
  • A perfect fitMove, zoom and rotate your face until it sits right in the visor.
  • Visor finishesApollo Gold, Clear Glass or Cyber HUD.
  • Your messageA note in your own words, with a mission label, stamps and a postmark.
  • FramesWalnut wood or titanium, in portrait or landscape.
  • Keep or send itDownload the image, or share it straight from your phone.
  • A 3D pop-out viewThe astronaut leans out of the frame toward you.
  • 3D formatsA GLB model, an RGB-D depth pair, side-by-side stereo and red/cyan anaglyph.
A postcard from the studio, with a face inside the helmet
Made in the studio, then downloaded as an image

The film

A two-minute film made for Tripothon S1.

Music: "Titan" by Scott Buckley (CC BY 4.0).

Controls

In the cockpit
DragLook around
W / S, ↑ / ↓Pitch the ship up or down
A / D, ← / →Turn left or right
Q / ERoll
R / F, wheelRaise or lower the orbit
POpen the postcard studio
EscClose the studio
On the spacewalk
DragLook around
WheelZoom in or out
W / SMove forward or back
A / DMove left or right
E / QMove up or down

On-screen buttons start the spacewalk and bring you back, choose what to look at, change the orbit speed, and switch or view the pilot.

How it was made

Built for Tripothon S1 with generative 3D tools and the open web.

  • TripoThe astronaut, the spacecraft, the satellite and the wooden frame models
  • World Labs MarbleThe cockpit panorama
  • PixVerseThe cabin-to-spacewalk transition, made from frames of the app
  • Earth imageryNASA Blue Marble
  • Three.jsThe real-time 3D engine
  • Music"Titan" by Scott Buckley (CC BY 4.0), in the film

Who will you send it to?

Make your postcard Fly the cockpit