NASA's Topographical Moon Map Gets .GIFed

Remember back in the '90s, when having a .gif on your Web page showed your mastery of the Internet?Designer Aaron Meyers is bringing the .gifs, or animated image files, back in style by applying an animated .gif of video games and animated characters (shown at right) to one of NASA's...

By Colin Lecher

October 15, 2010

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18478561",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "16759093",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759092",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759094",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        }
      ]

Remember back in the '90s, when having a .gif on your Web page showed your mastery of the Internet?

Designer Aaron Meyers is bringing the .gifs, or animated image files, back in style by applying an animated .gif of video games and animated characters (shown at right) to one of NASA's topographical maps of the moon. Hopefully it's the only thing from the '90s Meyers is trying to bring back ...

Read on for some more background on the map and a zoomed in view. Fair warning: Serious nerd eye candy after the jump ...

The topographical map is based on NASA's LIDAR (Light Detection and Radar) map, but the standard colors of the NASA version have been substituted in with images from the .gif.

The .gif, created by fellow designer Paul Robertson, features characters from video games like Pokemon and Dragon Warrior, one from Azumanga Daioh, and several other images.

KEEP NEW TIMES FREE... Since we started New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.