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Mars Launch Window Navigator

Drag a launch-date slider across a multi-year timeline and watch the Earth-Mars transfer trajectory and its delta-v cost recompute live from a real Lambert solver, showing why launching a few weeks off the ~26-month Hohmann window can multiply propellant needs.

Space & Astronomy3DModerate60 FPS🌍 Earth

Details

CategorySpace & Astronomy

RenderingThree.js · WebGL

DifficultyModerate

Target FPS60

ControlsLaunch-date slider (0-2700 days, ~7.4-year timeline) recomputes the transfer trajectory live via a universal-variable Lambert solver; prev/next-window buttons jump to the nearest ~26-month optimal launch date; clicking the delta-v-vs-launch-date chart also sets the launch date.

Three.jsMars missionHohmann transferLambert's problemlaunch windoworbital mechanicsdelta-vrocket equation

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Earth and Mars line up for an efficient Hohmann transfer only once every ~26 months. This simulator solves Lambert's problem live for whatever launch date you pick, drawing the actual computed transfer trajectory and its required delta-v so you can see, by dragging a single slider, exactly how much a missed window costs in propellant.

⚙ Under the hood

Drag a launch-date slider across a 7-year timeline and watch a real Lambert-solver-computed Earth-Mars transfer trajectory redraw live: a smooth low-delta-v Hohmann ellipse near the ~26-month launch window, a steep, distorted, propellant-hungry arc off it, with a background chart of delta-v vs launch date exposing the full recurring pattern.

Three.jsMars missionHohmann transferLambert's problemlaunch windoworbital mechanicsdelta-vrocket equation

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install