The first public showing of 'The Peak of Eternal Light', a new movie created using images taken by ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter, took place on July 2009 at the Ars Electronica Center (AEC), Linz, Austria. This movie was shown as part of a special event to mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, during this International Year of Astronomy.<br /><br />During the journey to 'The Peak of Eternal Light', the audience joins Commander Björn Grieger and his flight crew onboard a virtual lunar shuttle called 'Sparrow' for a thrilling flight over the lunar surface. This virtual guided tour across a 3D lunar surface explores Shackleton Crater en-route to the famous Peak of Eternal Light, a location 17 km from the Moon's South Pole that is illuminated almost constantly by the Sun, making it a possible site for a future lunar outpost. <br /><br />A method known as shape-from-shading was used to produce the 3D lunar surface featured in the movie. The method was used in a novel way, applying it simultaneously to five images taken in diverse lighting conditions by the Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft. This model was originally developed for research purposes before being converted into a movie for AEC, Austria.
