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Affordable
Space Tourism: SpaceStationSim
Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Originating Technology/NASA Contribution
For over 5 years, people have been living and working in
space on the International
Space Station (ISS),
a state-of-the-art laboratory complex orbiting high above
the Earth. Offering a large, sustained microgravity environment
that cannot be duplicated on Earth, the
ISS furthers humankind’s knowledge of science and how the
body functions for extended periods of time in space—all
of which will prove vital on long-duration missions
to Mars.
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SpaceStationSim
allows players to create and manage their very
own International Space Station and crew. |
On-orbit construction of the station began in November
1998, with the launch of the Russian Zarya Control Module,
which provided battery power and fuel storage. This module
was followed by additional components and supplies over
the course of several months. In November 2000, the first
ISS Expedition crew moved in.
Since then, the ISS has continued to change and evolve.
The space station is currently 240 feet wide, measured
across the solar arrays, and 171 feet long, from the NASA
Destiny Laboratory to the Russian Zvezda Habitation Module.
It is 90 feet tall, and it weighs approximately 404,000
pounds. Crews inhabit a living space of about 15,000 cubic
feet.
To date, 90 scientific investigations have been conducted
on the space station. New results from space station research,
from basic science to exploration research, are being published
each month, and more breakthroughs are likely to come.
It is not all work on the space station, though. The orbiting
home affords many of the comforts one finds on Earth. There
is a weightless “weight room” and even a musical keyboard
alongside research facilities. Holidays are observed, and
with them, traditional foods such as turkey and cobbler
are eaten—with lemonade to wash them down.
Partnership
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In
New Station Mode, players have the freedom to build
the International Space Station any way they want,
within, of course, the connection rules governing
the actual space station |
Vision Videogames, LLC, of Towson, Maryland, completed
a Space Act Agreement with NASA to create the interactive
video game, SpaceStationSim, in which players role-play
as the NASA “Chief Administrator,” managing astronauts
on the ISS in a 3-D simulated environment. The agreement
was a continuation of one between NASA and GRS Games before
Vision Videogames management bought the company in March
2004.
The agreement provided, for a set time, the company with
information from, and access to, NASA personnel, so that
it could make the most accurate game possible. NASA personnel
even volunteered to be beta testers for the new game.
Bill Mueller, president of Vision Videogames, said of the
project, “The assistance and support from NASA were invaluable,
and the enthusiasm of the NASA personnel was great.”
The company also received volunteers of assistance from
a variety of space experts and international agencies,
including the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
With this level of interest, expertise, and involvement,
Vision Videogames managed to create a game that is so accurate
and realistic that NASA is even exploring aspects of the
game for mission planning.
Early in 2005, Vision Videogames worked with Raytheon
Company,
of Waltham, Massachusetts, to demonstrate the viability
of using a simulated systems engineering and integration
visualization platform for collaborative development environments.
In fall 2005, Vision Videogames completed a contract with
NASA to use SpaceStationSim to simulate the creation of
the Crew
Exploration Vehicle and crew, appropriately named,
SimCEV. It is significantly more affordable and safe to
model and test equipment and programs in a simulated environment
than it is to field test, especially when the field is
the Moon or Mars. The SpaceStationSim software engine provided
“virtual vehicle” assets, animation, and programming expertise
for NASA to support the Vision for Space Exploration.
Product Outcome
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The
Astronaut Builder allows players to create and
recruit new astronauts for their stations, choosing
everything from whether the astronaut will have
a green or blue shirt to whether he or she will
be skilled in astrotechnology or biomedicine. |
SpaceStationSim is the latest in a long line of popular
simulation (SIM) games. Precursors include games that allow
players to do everything from building a city, an island,
or a planet, to attending college, going out on the town
at night, or managing an amusement park, to masquerading
as rock stars. There is even a SIM variation that allows
players to practice looking after pets. While the ISS variation,
then, is not that far-fetched, the difference is that it
was built to NASA technical specifications and holds all
the excitement and intrigue that goes with actually living
in space.
“We believe that one real day at NASA is more exciting than an imaginary day
anywhere else,” Mueller explains. “We intend to bring to a whole generation of
young people a sense of ownership in, and dedication
to, NASA.”
As the “Chief Administrator” of NASA, the player creates crewmembers with unique
needs, abilities, and personalities, and manages their activities and relationships.
In this game, as in real life, the astronauts face mission-critical situations,
including meteor strikes and decompression, while conducting microgravity experiments
and dealing with troublesome space tourists. The space tourists, included to
offer a bit of comic relief, appear on the station dressed for the beach or boardwalk,
in full Hawaiian tourist attire. They disrupt the astronauts as the crew goes
about its chores repairing machinery, conducting experiments, and trying to keep
happy and healthy in the confines of the space station.
The player monitors the crew as it performs experiments and completes simple
repairs. According to the game’s instruction manual, “Through strategy, design,
management, discovery, and care of your crew, your ISS may usher in the dawn
of a new age for man among the stars or fail in a burning inferno!”
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To
keep the astronauts in peak condition and the station in orbit, players
must give astronauts tasks that fulfill their needs as well as those
of the station. |
The game begins in the Mission Control Center, which is also where the player
returns regularly to launch new modules and components, recruit crewmembers,
organize supply missions, and monitor the game’s currency, which is international
goodwill, measured in the form of international flags.
The player determines the astronaut’s strengths and weaknesses, and then these
factors later come into play on the ISS. If an astronaut is excessively playful
and has a poor work ethic, repairs might not be made. If the astronaut, on the
other hand, is too focused on work and is not interested in having fun, he may
burn out over time and become unhealthy and depressed. The skills and specialties
of the astronauts also come into play, as certain specialists are the only ones
qualified to perform certain tasks. A biomedical payload specialist, for example,
can perform high-level biomedical experiments, whereas an astrotechnology expert
may be more adept at certain onsite repairs.
After the astronauts are blasted off to the station on a Russian Soyuz vehicle,
the player must manage the astronaut’s activities by assigning tasks to keep
them happy, healthy, and productive. The astronauts are able to choose tasks
on their own, but initially, they need more guidance or they will make mistakes.
Once they have developed more experience, though, they become more self-sufficient,
and the player can focus on building the station.
As the game progresses, the player constructs the station, adding additional
sections and bringing needed equipment and supplies to the virtual astronauts.
The player coordinates with Mission Control to determine which vehicles are available
to carry different machinery to the station. A player can chose between dozens
of modules and stylized components from NASA and its four exploration partners,
JAXA, the Russian
Space Agency, the Canadian
Space Agency, and the European
Space Agency.
Players can add experimental equipment, items to make their lives and stay more
comfortable, and can construct their own unique station by building additions
and components.
Currently, the game can be played on a personal computer, and a PlayStation 2
version is in development.
PlayStation® is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America,
Inc.
SpaceStationSim™ is a trademark of Vision Videogames, LLC.
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