French network takes viewers on virtual trip to Jupiter’s moons

France 2’s evening newscast “Journal de 20 Heures” aired a virtual explainer previewing the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission.

The team at France 2 used Unreal Engine to recreate an out-of-this-world view with a presenter standing on a circular dais made to look like he is standing on the surface of one of Jupiter’s moons.

Various facts and stats about the plant and its moons are covered and animation is used to showcase the size and scale of the JUICE probe as well as the moons themselves when compared to Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. 

One portion of the segment features an extraction of the moon to show what scientists believe is inside, while other effects mimic possible features of the moons.

Jupiter itself consists primarily of gases and is uninhabitable by any known lifeforms, but JUICE hopes to explore moons for possible other characteristics that could support life.

Art direction for the segment was provided by Thomas Lagache with Mathias Baudet of FreeLens under the direction of Nicolas Chateauneuf and Cynthia Gravet.