The Weather Channel's moon landing simulation is real extra

It's basically like being in space.
 By 
Caitlin Welsh
 on 
The Weather Channel's moon landing simulation is real extra
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Look, we’re all psyched about the 50th anniversary of the moon landing on July 20 -- but The Weather Channel is really, really into it. And we mean into it -- as in, they’ve literally inserted themselves into it.

Not satisfied with the (definitely not filmed on a soundstage) original footage, they’ve created an Immersive Mixed Reality (IMR) simulation that does the absolute most.

It starts with TWC host and meteorologist Jim Cantore standing on the moon, obviously. He's surrounded by a forest of CGI features, from Apollo 11 astronauts descending from the command module and sweeping aerodynamic patterns glowing in mid-air, to an American flag planted in the moon-dirt.

It then dives dizzyingly to follow the module back to Earth, where co-host Tevin Wooten is hanging out on the U.S.S. Hornet to talk you through the retrieval mission.

Be warned, the module's fiery blasters seem to come out of nowhere and are really in your face upon return.

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Caitlin Welsh

Caitlin is Mashable's Australian Editor. She has written for The Guardian, Junkee, and any number of plucky little music and culture publications that were run on the smell of an oily rag and have since been flushed off the Internet like a dead goldfish by their new owners. She also worked at Choice, Australia's consumer advocacy non-profit and magazine, and as such has surprisingly strong opinions about whitegoods. She enjoys big dumb action movies, big clever action movies, cult Canadian comedies set in small towns, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Replacements, smoky mezcal, revenge bedtime procrastination, and being left the hell alone when she's reading.


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