A 400 millimeter lens was used by an International space station crew member to capture this image of the space shuttle Atlantis.
A 400 millimeter lens was used by an International space station crew member to capture this image of the space shuttle Atlantis as it drew close to the station for docking in this photo provided by NASA and taken July 10, 2011. Reuters

NASA has come up with a new Internet tool that will allow users to see the solar system and follow missions in real time.

Eyes on the Solar System uses space mission data and video game technology to give users a unique learning experience, NASA announced in a company press release.

The Unity game engine is used to display models of solar system bodies, such as moons and asteroids, and spacecraft. Users can follow space missions in real time. They can even go back and forth in time, as the Internet tool has data going back to 1950 and projected to 2050, according to NASA.

Users can even opt to have this experience in 3-D.

This is the first time the public has been able to see the entire solar system and our missions moving together in real-time, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division Jim Green said in the press release. It demonstrates NASA's continued commitment to share our science with everyone.

Kevin Hussey is the manager of Visualization Technology Applications and Development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His team developed Eyes on the Solar System.

By basing our visualization primarily on mission data, this tool will help both NASA and the public better understand complex space science missions, Hussey said in the press release.

Eyes on the Solar System is available at the following link: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes.

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