The 'largest Moon on Earth', with a diameter of 25 metres, floats inside the 100-metre high free space that is the Oberhausen Gasometer's 'main ring'. In virtually total darkness, the scene is set for this simulated satellite of the Earth using elaborate lighting. Visitors to the exhibition are able to observe the simulated Moon in all its phases. This picture gallery shows how the sculpture of the Moon was produced and installed.
The exhibition designers used image data from the US Clementine mission as a model for the Moon's cratered face. In 1994, this probe orbited the Moon 300 times and in the process took 1.8 million photographs, from which the most complete digital model of the Moon’s surface to date was made – and this was the raw material for the printed cover of the Oberhausen Moon balloon. To produce the cover, DLR staff from the Institute for Planetary Research (Institut für Planetenforschung) converted the individual images into what is known as a cylindrical projection and combined them to form a complete map.