Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • Subscribe!
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings

You Can (Virtually) Travel to Mars Next Year, Thanks to NASA and MIT

By Sarah Goncalves | December 21, 2015

Share

The Mars 2030 Experience, a virtual reality collaboration across NASA, Fusion, and MIT’s Space Systems Laboratory, will debut next March at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas—over fourteen years ahead of when actual humans will be (purportedly) touching down on the Red Planet.

The game will be playable on Google Cardboard, Oculus Rift, and Samsung Gear VR. It will also launch on PlayStation VR and HTC Vive.

NASA already utilizes VR technology (quite extensively) in astronaut training and spacecraft simulations. Incorporated into a free game, the Mars 2030 Experience will extend the scope of the agency’s work to a broader audience, hopefully inspiring the next generation of scientists and explorers.

“We saw this as an opportunity to share elements of our human Mars surface exploration concepts using today’s advanced virtual reality technologies,” Jason Crusan, director of NASA’s advanced exploration systems, told Fortune.

Gamers will be able to walk or drive the Mars Rover across Martian terrain to fulfill mission goals, incorporating actual topographic data and color reference to recreate what it would look like if they were actually there. (Most images from Mars are color-corrected to match human eyesight or Earth’s lighting conditions. For these reasons, the “Mars” of Hollywood or popular fiction is not entirely accurate.)

As part of the game’s development process, technical designer Justin Sonnekalb and his team visited Johnson Space Center to consult the NASA simulator team and test drive a prototype of the Rover. “There’s something inherently cool about the authenticity of that, particularly with the additional immersion afforded by VR,” Sonnekalb said.

More details will be revealed during a SXSW conference panel, exploring the intersection of science, education, and technology. According to its description, the game will “allow the user to go on an extravehicular activity and explore the Martian landscape in a Z-2 space suit. The interactive component would also allow the astronaut to explore the insides of a prototype habitat proposed by NASA scientists.”

Of course, if the idea of virtually visiting Mars doesn’t do it for you, you could always just apply to NASA to be an actual astronaut…


Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine), Virtual reality

 

Related Articles Read More >

Part 6: IDE and other software for connectivity and IoT design work
Part 4: Edge computing and gateways proliferate for industrial machinery
Part 3: Trends in Ethernet, PoE, IO-Link, HIPERFACE, and single-cable solutions
Machine Learning for Sensors

DESIGN GUIDE LIBRARY

“motion

Enews Sign Up

Motion Control Classroom

Design World Digital Edition

cover

Browse the most current issue of Design World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading design engineering magazine today.

EDABoard the Forum for Electronics

Top global problem solving EE forum covering Microcontrollers, DSP, Networking, Analog and Digital Design, RF, Power Electronics, PCB Routing and much more

EDABoard: Forum for electronics

Sponsored Content

  • Industrial disc pack couplings
  • Pushing performance: Adding functionality to terminal blocks
  • Get to Know Würth Industrial Division
  • Renishaw next-generation FORTiS™ enclosed linear encoders offer enhanced metrology and reliability for machine tools
  • WAGO’s smartDESIGNER Online Provides Seamless Progression for Projects
  • Epoxy Certified for UL 1203 Standard

Design World Podcasts

July 26, 2022
Tech Tuesdays: Sorbothane marks 40 years of shock and vibration innovation
See More >
Engineering Exchange

The Engineering Exchange is a global educational networking community for engineers.

Connect, share, and learn today »

Design World
  • Advertising
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Manage your Design World Subscription
  • Subscribe
  • Design World Digital Network
  • Engineering White Papers
  • LEAP AWARDS

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • Subscribe!
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings