The tech to convert satellite map images into topographical 3D-printed maps was originally developed for mission planning. “Typically the topography of a site was done in a sandbox,” he explained.

For example: This satellite map of America’s forests, built from 265 million segments and intended to be a tool for understanding exactly how much carbon our trees can absorb.

The near-global topographic map was constructed from 69,000 WAC stereo models and covers the latitude range 79°S to 79°N, 98.2 percent of the entire lunar surface.