Celestia

[aerotrooper]

I don't know if you all have fast machines or not. But this is the coolest space simulation program I've ever seen and it's free.
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

-Because at leisure world we don't have to stop living.

[Etherspin]

it is pretty cool except that im constantly getting lost

[aerotrooper]

One of the first things you notice is that there isn't much reference for N,S,E & W :). I do however like to "follow" earth for a while to help remind myself of were I am. I'll play around with it for a while than I'll lay back with my head to the north and visualize how the sun ,is going to or is, traveling across the sky depending on the season. It grounds me a bit. I know for some people the whole idea of outer-space is bewildering. No doubt it can be. But the thought that say Mars is out there right now... for real... as I type this. A whole other planet that you could actually stand on with it's whispy atmsphere and sunrises and sunsets... and it's there right now. We can look at it with binoculars or even see it's atmospheric conditions with a telescope. To me thats both wonderful and re-assuring somehow. Regardless the progam is pretty cool I thought.

[ChrisLDog]

Very cool program Aero. Yeah, I get lost sometimes too. I wish there was a function or two to "level" yourself to the plane of the planets or perpendicular to the plane. (Maybe there is and I'm missing it?)

[aerotrooper]

I'm using the Mac program so I don't know how to direct you to it... but there is. The best way is to "center object" if there's a drop down menu or a keyboard command legend.
You can also move closer and farther (near...far. -Elmo) by the home and end keys. Also you can probably pitch,yaw and roll with the number keypad and tilt with the left and right arrow keys. The letter L speeds up the time out of real time by factors of 10 I believe. K slows the rotations down. If you center object and tap the arrow key to the right or left you should be able to get a verical or horizontal line up of the planets.