Hashtags:

#humans, #spaceymotion, #advanced

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[email protected]

Tags:

Model, Imagery, Platform, Data Visualization, Citizen Science

KSC 2015 SPACE APPS GOOGLE HANGOUT

Just annouced: Google Hangout for the Bodies in Spacey Motion with NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) subject matter experts (SMEs). Click here for details.

Background

Motion-based games that use input from the player’s body are becoming more and more common, as games play from actual dance moves and a huge range of other inputs. Performing Extravehicular Activities (EVA), where the astronaut is outside the vehicle or habitat and in a space suit, is hard and arduous work that can be awkward to perform.

The environment in microgravity and on other bodies varies greatly from one another. The local gravity field and atmosphere have huge variations, which then translate into variations in how a force a person imparts with their body acts upon objects, the body’s surface, and their own body.

Even here on Earth, performing tasks to process and maintain space vehicles can be very difficult. Technicians would sometimes climb into the wings of the Space Shuttle to perform service. If there is potential for a hazardous environment during the task, the technician may have to don a Self Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suit, which protects them. It presents some of the same challenges that an astronaut experiences in an spacesuit.

Challenge

Develop an experience where motion is an input from a player as they try to complete space related tasks, such as: an off Earth astronaut on the International Space Station, Mars, Moon or other bodies performing exploration, research, and maintenance tasks, where gravity and the atmosphere are very different from Earth; an Earth bound technician servicing a spacecraft inside a fairing; a space vehicle, launching/landing on Earth or other bodies. The player will learn physically about the work that astronauts, engineers, and technicians perform and how differences in environment affect them.

Considerations

• The physics of the various planetary bodies will need to be scaled and modeled for the tasks.
• Players can perform a great variety of tasks and activities. Below are ideas; but NOT all-inclusive.
• Building and maintenance tasks common to the International Space Station.
• Perform the same experiment on Earth, inside Space Station, in habitat on Mars or other bodies to feel differences gravity has on the task
• Perform fun tasks without a scientific purpose, but help the player understand the effects of gravity and/or atmosphere, could be included. Examples:
• Make "Mars Angels"
• Play sports (a javelin may go very far on Mars, but not so much on Saturn)
• Pick up and throw rocks
• Become a spacecraft, deploying solar arrays, booms and other structures with your human body. Rotate yourself so your optical instrument (i.e. eyes) don’t stare directly into the sun.
• Become a rover, unfolding and deploying instruments after a long journey and then explore the surface
• Follow in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong and other Moonwalkers
• If atmosphere is also modeled, it could be turned on and off to understand the effect of the local air on motion.

Sample Resources(Participants do not have to use these resources, and NASA in no way endorses any particular entity listed).

• Resources: International Space Station
• http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/index.cfm
• http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Venus&Display=Facts
• http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/charchart.cfm
• http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/compchart.cfm
• http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/
• http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/jupiterfact.html
• http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/participate/
• http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/apps/
• Kennedy Resources Encyclopedia (KRE): http://tdglobal.ksc.nasa.gov/servlet/sm.web.Fetch/KHB-1863?rhid=1000&did=35173&type=released&rev=$latest
• Kennedy Space Center Technical Capabilities: http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/Partnering-Opportunities/Capabilities-and-Testing/Technical-Capabilities