Commercial space entrepreneurs are developing rockets that will take tourists to the moon in the not-too-distant future. But a software maker has taken a head start on the adventure by simulating a lunar ride for the PC user.
Virtue Arts, based in Los Angeles, has developed software that renders the exact physics and topology of the moon in a 3D game, letting players drive over the lunar surface, gaze at the galaxy or study objects that were left by NASA astronauts on real missions.
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NASA Ames plans to use the software to engineer space vehicles and train astronauts for future missions.
“This revolutionizes the use of visualization technology – it brings it down to everyone’s computer,” Mary Duda, founder and CEO of Virtue Arts, said in an interview.
Jerome Rasky, the 10-year-old son of a NASA scientist, tested a game version of the software, called Lunar Racing Championship at NASA’s Exploration Center. He said it’s not as easy as it looks.
“It’s like someone put a jet on your car and you have to control it,” Rasky said. “I’ve played car games before but nothing like this.”
Virtue Arts engineered its game and moon-exploration software with publicly available data that NASA and other international space agencies have collected from missions to the moon. That way, the software draws on real science to encourage play and learning, according to Duda.
For example, the moon’s gravity is one-sixth of the Earth’s, so driving among its rocks and on its dusty surface is more weightless and out of control than driving on Earth. Aerodynamics are meaningless on the moon, so the lunar buggy in Virtue’s Lunar Racing Championship software includes rocket boosters and a reaction control system, which is typically found on spacecraft, to stabilize itself in the event of spinning out of control. But speeds of only 8 miles per hour can cause a dust storm because of the moon’s fine surface.
The lunar software also includes exact renderings of the constellations, the Earth, the Sun and the galaxies.
Virtue Arts developed a system called RADE, or rapid application development environment, so that it can process the lunar data in real time on a consumer PC. It’s a tall order, according to Virtue Arts Chief Technology Officer Romesh Prakashpalan, because the application must process a data source of 10 gigabytes, an amount that’s typically been the domain of high-end servers.
The Lunar Racing Championship application is also networked so that, for example, two kids can race each other in the game from two different PCs.
The Lunar Racing Championship game is expected to be released to consumers next June for $49.95. Lunar Explorer is currently available for $39.95. Both applications can run on a standard consumer-grade PC with a graphics accelerator.
Obviously, NASA plans to use the software for a higher purpose.
“We need to simulate space for designing vehicles and missions because there are a lot of complicated questions to answer in the process,” said Dan Rasky, a senior scientist at NASA.
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Filed under: Astronomy Software • The Moon
William ("Bill") Charles Kaysing (1922-2005) was an author most famous for believing that the six Apollo missions to the Moon from July 1969 to December 1972 were never made. That is, he supported the "moon hoax movement," believing the missions to the Moon were false. We had just faked everything and pretended through effects that we were on the Moon.
Kaysing's disbelief was, unfortunately, among other people. In his book "We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle", self-published in 1974, Kaysing estimated that 30 percent of the population of America did not believe that astronauts went to the Moon. He went to state his theory on how astronauts staged how they went. (Note: For example, Kaysing said there were no photographs of stars in the background when Apollo astronauts took a pictures. This was because the camera exposure couldn't take much when the bright lunar light blocked the faint stars.)
So, the question was, what proof do we have? Well, spacecrafts that came after the Apollo missions photographed the Moon and showed that indeed there were footsteps made by astronauts, imprinted by the astronauts' suits and rovers. The LRO probe, for example, photographed these when in orbit. The Google Maps application, if you see the Moon, shows significant landscape imprinted with those footprints made by astronauts.
More action is occurring between NASA and other international space agencies to talk about cooperative efforts for both human and robotic exploration of space. The “WE” exploration ethic is alive and active.
More action is occurring between NASA and other international space agencies to talk about cooperative efforts for both human and robotic exploration of space. The “WE” exploration ethic is alive and active.
William ("Bill") Charles Kaysing (1922-2005) was an author most famous for believing that the six Apollo missions to the Moon from July 1969 to December 1972 were never made. That is, he supported the "moon hoax movement," believing the missions to the Moon were false. We had just faked everything and pretended through effects that we were on the Moon.
Kaysing's disbelief was, unfortunately, among other people. In his book "We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle", self-published in 1974, Kaysing estimated that 30 percent of the population of America did not believe that astronauts went to the Moon. He went to state his theory on how astronauts staged how they went. (Note: For example, Kaysing said there were no photographs of stars in the background when Apollo astronauts took a pictures. This was because the camera exposure couldn't take much when the bright lunar light blocked the faint stars.)
So, the question was, what proof do we have? Well, spacecrafts that came after the Apollo missions photographed the Moon and showed that indeed there were footsteps made by astronauts, imprinted by the astronauts' suits and rovers. The LRO probe, for example, photographed these when in orbit. The Google Maps application, if you see the Moon, shows significant landscape imprinted with those footprints made by astronauts.
Sorry to disagree, but I am disappointed with scientific and technical progress. We shouldn't pat ourselves on the backs too much over cell phones, they are really only radios hooked up to the landline phone system. The best progress has been with digital technologies, which has been impressive. But as for transportation, we still drive cars that are little improved from pre-WWII models, and our jet airplanes were basically devised during and shortly after WWII.
We should be exploring the other planets with human piloted spaceships by now, we should have well-established bases on the moon, and we should be in the early stages of colonizing Mars. And we should have working models of spaceships that are more advanced than mere chemical rockets. (Nuclear powered / ion powered, etc.)
Somehow, we lost our way after the Apollo missions to the Moon. Thank goodness for the Hubble Telescope, and thank goodness we are finally making hybrid automobiles available for purchase, but we have a long ways to go. I sincerely hope we can show the necessary resolve to accomplish the visions of the Science Fiction luminaries.
William ("Bill") Charles Kaysing (1922-2005) was an author most famous for believing that the six Apollo missions to the Moon from July 1969 to December 1972 were never made. That is, he supported the "moon hoax movement," believing the missions to the Moon were false. We had just faked everything and pretended through effects that we were on the Moon.
Kaysing's disbelief was, unfortunately, among other people. In his book "We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle", self-published in 1974, Kaysing estimated that 30 percent of the population of America did not believe that astronauts went to the Moon. He went to state his theory on how astronauts staged how they went. (Note: For example, Kaysing said there were no photographs of stars in the background when Apollo astronauts took a pictures. This was because the camera exposure couldn't take much when the bright lunar light blocked the faint stars.)
So, the question was, what proof do we have? Well, spacecrafts that came after the Apollo missions photographed the Moon and showed that indeed there were footsteps made by astronauts, imprinted by the astronauts' suits and rovers. The LRO probe, for example, photographed these when in orbit. The Google Maps application, if you see the Moon, shows significant landscape imprinted with those footprints made by astronauts.