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.
Lunar Explorer uses NASA data on the topology and physics of the moon that lets kids and adults explore the lunar surface. |
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 everyones 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 NASAs Exploration Center. He said its not as easy as it looks.
Its like someone put a jet on your car and you have to control it, Rasky said.Ive 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 moons gravity is one-sixth of the Earths, 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 Virtues 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 moons 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. Its 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 thats 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.
The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is currently under study for launch in 2012 on a Minotaur-V. LADEE is designed to characterize the tenuous lunar atmosphere and dust environment from orbit. The scientific objectives of the mission are: 1) Determine the global density, composition, and time variability of the fragile lunar atmosphere before it is perturbed by further human activity; and 2) Determine the size, charge, and spatial distribution of electrostatically transported dust grains and assess their likely effects on lunar exploration and lunar-based astronomy. further objectives are to determine if the Apollo astronaut sightings of diffuse emission at 10s of km above the surface were Na glow or dust and document the dust impactor environment (size-frequency) to help guide design engineering for the outpost and also future robotic missions.
The current launch readiness date is May 2012 with launch windows opening any time after that. The nominal science orbit will last 100 days. The orbiter will carry a neutral mass spectrometer, an ultraviolet/visible spectrometer, and a dust detector. The total science payload mass must be less than 20 kg with normal power of 60 W and a 100 W maximum. There is also a technology demonstration, the Lunar laser Communication Demonstration. Communications will be via S-band with a 10 Kbps science data rate. Total mass of the orbiter will be approximately 130 kg.
The instruments will detect and constrain the abundances of species expected to be prevalent at the 50 km altitude, due to the solar wind and its interactions with the surface, release from regolith, and radiogenic sources. The NMS is a quadrupole mass spectrometer designed ot detect species up to 150 amu and will look for CH4, S, O, Si, Kr, Xe, Fe, Al, Ti, Mg, OH, and H2O. The UV/Vis will detect Al, Ca, Fe, K, Li, Na, Si, T, Ba, Mg, H2O, and O and will monitor the dust composition.
Slated for launch in 2012 from Wallops Island on a Minotaur with a Star 37FM or FMV upper stage, LADEE will spend about 5 months reaching nominal lunar orbit and checking out systems before its 100 day science mission starts. The nominal science orbit will be a near-circular (about 50 km) retrograde equatorial orbit with a period of 113 minutes. The periselene will be over the sunrise terminator. After the science mission is complete the orbiter will be put into a higher elliptical orbit for the technology demonstration, which will last for about 9 months. Total mission cost is estimated at roughly $100 million.
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