Virtual space tech

[nimbus]

I don't recall any mention anywhere that I've read or seen, of titan's atmosphere giving solar light a blue tint like it does in the screenshot I took.

I dropped a random thought in that NSF MMO space sim thread.

 

[EarthlingX]

If you really want to know, check Celestia forum, not NSF, and if you find anything conflicting what i wrote about it, i'm interested. I assume those colours to be real, until proven otherwise. You can also check Ciclops/Cassini page for colour images of Titan, and if i'm correct, there is at least one image (on my disk) with similar atmosphere colours as in Celestia.

http://www.nasahackspace.org : NASA Invites Public to Take Virtual Walk On The Moon

More than 37 years after humans last walked on the moon, planetary scientists are inviting members of the public to return to the lunar surface as "virtual astronauts" to help answer important scientific questions. No spacesuit or rocket ship is required - all visitors need to do is go to http://www.moonzoo.org and be among the first to see the lunar surface in unprecedented detail. New high-resolution images, taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), offer exciting clues to unveil or reveal the history of the moon and our solar system.

"We need Web users around the world to help us interpret these stunning new images of the lunar surface," said Chris Lintott of Oxford University and chair of the Citizen Science Alliance. "If you only spend five minutes on the site counting craters you'll be making a valuable contribution to science and, who knows, you might run across a Russian spacecraft."

http://www.moonzoo.org/

About Moon Zoo

The Moon is perhaps the most familiar object in the night sky, but it still has its mysteries. Following the excitement of the Apollo Moon landings in the 1960s and 1970s, a new flotilla of spacecraft is exploring the Earth's nearest neighbour. The images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter which you're invited to explore with Moon Zoo show the lunar surface in remarkable detail, including features as small as 50 cm (about one and a half feet) across.

 

[nimbus]

What I think it is is a graphics glitch. From the surface you'd see something else (e.g. the lander pics that I've seen were all orange).. Celestia's just not made to look from within the atmosphere. The blue color refraction is something you'd see only from outside of Titan, like in the Cassini flyby and far-off pics.

I'll go ask on the Celestia forum.

 

[EarthlingX]

This is the closest thread i could think of for this :

www.spaceref.com : NASA Joins Web Consortium to Help Improve Universal Access

Date Released: Thursday, May 27, 2010

NASA announced Thursday it has joined the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The consortium is an international organization that develops protocols, standards and guidelines to ensure universal Web access.

"Standards will play a key role in making NASA's content more accessible on the Internet and in the implementation of our Open Government plan," said Chris Kemp, chief technology officer for Information Technology at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Additionally, standards nurture technology innovation. We are especially interested in participating in those areas where NASA's ongoing technical requirements overlap with the W3C's standardization efforts."

W3C's staff works with member organizations and the public to enhance long-term growth for the Web. The organization has more than 350 members. It is run by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in Cambridge, Mass., the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics in France, and Keio University in Japan.

"W3C is delighted to welcome NASA back as a member," said Jeff Jaffe, W3C chief executive officer. "The agency's participation in W3C activities such as eGovernment, Linked Open Data and Semantic Web technologies will bring great depth and breadth of experience to these communities and opportunities for leadership in emerging technologies."

For more information about W3C, visit: http://www.w3.org

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Information Officer, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/ocio/home/

 

[EarthlingX]

One of my recent bookmarks :

w.ulsf.net : Ultra Light Space Flight

The ULSF team is a community of members and projects from across the internet, each pursuing a variety of experimental strategies for the development of open source space flight technologies and projects.

Open source as in software refers to the public display and royalty free licensing of complete engineering systems. While we do this because we love it so, we recognize the substantial educational potential for students and peers -- and value the life of continuous learning. For these reasons we attempt not only the project, but accessibility, comprehension, and reproducibility as well.

 

[EarthlingX]

www.spaceref.com : NASA and Japan Announce Cloud Computing Collaboration

Monday, June 7, 2010

Source: Nebula

NASA and Japan's National Institute of Informatics (NII) have announced plans to explore interoperability opportunities between NASA's Nebula Cloud Computing Platform and Japan's NII Cloud Computing Platform.

Chris C. Kemp, NASA's Chief Technology Officer for Information Technology, launched this effort on June 3 with a live demonstration of interoperability between NASA Nebula and the NII's Cloud at the NII annual Open House event in Tokyo, Japan. The Nebula and NII Cloud infrastructures jointly served publicly-available selections of Mars Orbiter data sets to a web application.

This event was a first step in NASA's efforts to demonstrate how cloud standards can facilitate interoperability and data portability for the benefit of the international science community. "By demonstrating how cloud interoperability can facilitate international collaboration and seamless global access to public data, NASA hopes to accelerate the development of cloud standards and the adoption of cloud infrastructure services by the scientific community," said Kemp.

NASA Nebula and NII's Cloud are built entirely of open-source components and both employ open-data application programming interfaces. NASA and NII will collaborate on open source reference implementations of interoperable cloud services.

"The interoperability between an NII Cloud and the NASA Nebula Cloud is a combined effort toward the creation of an International academic-information infrastructure, which is essential in promoting the global cooperation of research and education," said Masao Sakauchi, NII's director general. "The interoperability of this cloud infrastructure will make it possible to create new academic activities by enabling the software and content to be shared amongst researchers, faculties, and students worldwide."

...

 

[EarthlingX]

http://www.spaceref.com : First NASA IT Summit to Gather Industry Leaders and Explore Tech Innovations

PRESS RELEASE

Date Released: Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Source: NASA HQ

NASA's first Information Technology (IT) Summit will bring together government and industry leaders to explore the outer reaches of information technology.

The summit, which takes place August 16-18 at the Gaylord National Harbor in Maryland, will gather 750 participants and more than 100 expert presenters with themes on collaboration, social networking, innovation, infrastructure, operations and IT security and privacy.

Speakers include:

* Walt Disney's Vice President and General Manager Walt Disney Imagineering-FL Jack Blitch
* Google Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf
* Dell Services Chief Innovation Officer Jim Stikeleather
* Symantec Chief Technology Officer Mark Bregman
* Inspirion CEO Misti Burmeister
* Gartner Vice President and Fellow in Research David W. Cearley

"This summit is an opportunity for the public and private IT sectors to cross-pollinate," said NASA Chief Information Officer Linda Y. Cureton. "I strive to make NASA's IT the best in government. We can learn from the latest in the private sector while sharing our own innovations in cloud computing, green computing and other cutting-edge areas."

The summit's theme is "Together We Can Make NASA IT Stellar!" For more details, visit: http://www.regonline.com/ocio

To follow Twitter updates for new details about the summit's agenda and confirmed speakers, visit: http://twitter.com/nasait

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Information Officer, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ocio

 

[Valcan]

Guys one thing all hail the greatest game you can find. All hail EVE!!!

http://www.eveonline.com/

BTW its not a adults only game by any means but it tends to not appeal to most younger audiences (most players are 18-40).

 

[EarthlingX]

Guys one thing all hail the greatest game you can find. All hail EVE!!!

http://www.eveonline.com/

BTW its not a adults only game by any means but it tends to not appeal to most younger audiences (most players are 18-40).

You could write a bit more about it, or post a link to Eve Wiki ..

It is mentioned in the first post, but you can't work with this, no access to source - look, no touch. Not for me, i'm still growing out of the habit to bring all such things to mouth ..

If i can't change it, or at least mod it, it is no use, just looking nice. For that, i go to other places, like Ciclops, or ESO.

Not much open in Eve ..

 

[Valcan]

Guys one thing all hail the greatest game you can find. All hail EVE!!!

http://www.eveonline.com/

BTW its not a adults only game by any means but it tends to not appeal to most younger audiences (most players are 18-40).

You could write a bit more about it, or post a link to Eve Wiki ..

It is mentioned in the first post, but you can't work with this, no access to source - look, no touch. Not for me, i'm still growing out of the habit to bring all such things to mouth ..

If i can't change it, or at least mod it, it is no use, just looking nice. For that, i go to other places, like Ciclops, or ESO.

Not much open in Eve ..

Yes but it is a great game and is immersive in space. Plus it also has a incredably complex economy that is entirely space driven. Also up until the last few days was entire space ased so......

 

[EarthlingX]

Yes but it is a great game and is immersive in space. Plus it also has a incredably complex economy that is entirely space driven. Also up until the last few days was entire space ased so......

No doubt about that. It is also a great study on the possible, and i would recommend at least a half of year, so that you are able to fly a battle ship, beside doing more mundane things

 

[EarthlingX]

Check this out :

http://www.nasahackspace.org : BeagleBoard Gives New Power to Open Source Gadgets

Posted by Keith Cowing on June 9, 2010 8:43 PM

Open source hardware hobbyists now have a chipset to play with that's comparable to the powerful processors found in smartphones such as the Nexus One or HTC Incredible. Texas Instruments has released a new version of its low-power, single-board computer called BeagleBoard-xM. It's based on the same 1-GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor that drives the most sophisticated smartphones today. That gives it far more processing power than the leading open-source microcontroller platform, Arduino, which many hobbyists currently use to create robots, sensors, toys and other DIY devices. The BeagleBoard-xM has multimedia features similar to the processor seen in the Palm Pre and Motorola Droid, and includes on-board ethernet, five USB 2.0 ports and 512 MB of memory." Read More at Gadgetlab

http://beagleboard.org/

One of the standard chip interfaces is CAN, which is used in vehicle telemetry and control, also in cars and other vehicles. One step from virtual to real, and open source, as far as i know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture

focus.ti.com : OMAP™ Applications Processors: OMAP™ 4 Platform

This processor among others runs also Android.

news.cnet.com : Developer's dream: Androids...in space!

Danny Pier wants to send a smartphone into space. An Android smartphone.

Why? Well, because. Also, he is concerned that U.S. space exploration might not be progressing apace. His parents and grandparents got to witness an astronaut land on the moon, while Pier, 25, worries that he will have to wait until 2035 to see a man step on an extraterrestrial surface (Mars, according to plans laid out by President Obama).

So while Piers waits for middle age, he wants to try shipping the first smartphone into the stratosphere as a symbol of his belief in the importance of the space race. Preferably, that phone will be his HTC Evo 4.

"Great phone," he says. "I think it's meant for something greater."

 

[Valcan]

Yes but it is a great game and is immersive in space. Plus it also has a incredably complex economy that is entirely space driven. Also up until the last few days was entire space ased so......

No doubt about that. It is also a great study on the possible, and i would recommend at least a half of year, so that you are able to fly a battle ship, beside doing more mundane things

LOL yes i know i have 3 or had lost my account cause money is kinda tight. Abaddon..when you have to kill everything.

 

[EarthlingX]

A bit more realistic game, very dangerous to get lost in space though :

Wiki : Orbiter (simulator)

http://www.orbiter-forum.com/

orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk : Orbiter 2010 has been released

June 8, 2010: . Highlights of the new version include:

* Higher resolution planetary surfaces. Texture resolutions up to level 14 (equivalent to a resolution of approximately 80m/pixel for Earth) are now supported. The standard distribution comes with a global level 11 Earth texture, and local level 14 for Florida.
* Embedded scripting language. Orbiter now contains plugin modules and API support for running scripts from within the simulation. Scripts can be used for a variety of tasks, such as spacecraft and MFD definitions, autopilots, mission scripting and interactive tutorials.
* Separation of the graphics and rendering subsystem from the simulation core. The Orbiter code base has been revised to isolate the rendering module from the physics simulation. This allows to plug in external graphics clients for improved visual appearance, or to run Orbiter without graphics support in server mode.
* Improved physics. The atmosphere model for Earth has been significantly improved and now supports micro-drag at high altitudes (up to 2500km). Support for planetary axis precession has been added.
* More powerful 2-D instrument panels and HUD displays with automatic rescaling for variable screen resolutions and smooth animations of panel elements. The Delta-glider contains a reference implementation of the new panel system.

orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk : Orbiter download


Tools :

http://www.aovi93.dsl.pipex.com : Virtual Spaceflight - Orbiter Add-on Software, Utilities and Tutorials

http://www.orbiter-forum.com : Main index - Orbiter Gallery
... .. .. .. ..

 

[EarthlingX]

http://www.techbriefs.com : The Evolution of Virtual Protoyping

Virtual prototyping — enabling a designer or engineer to simulate how a product will work entirely on a computer, without physical models — continues to be a major focus in analysis and simulation. But is true virtual prototyping possible with today’s simulation tools? Littmarck said yes, but it is a matter of degree. “Every year, our industry is making progress to make more of the prototyping cycle ‘virtual.’ The growing multiphysics capability of today’s simulation tools allows engineering teams to take the guesswork out of design decisions by enabling them to consider all the physical effects impacting their product.” He added that, “When multiphysics is done right, it becomes an easy task to alter your design for better performance.”

Klimpke agrees that it is a matter of the level of simulation. “Virtual prototyping is certainly possible if the level of simulation is simple enough. With the continued improvement in software algorithms and the advent of more parallel computing, virtual prototyping continues to become more of a reality,” he said.

Anania sees simulation software headed in the direction of virtual prototyping. “In the future, a product designer won’t need to know about details such as analysis type and finite element mesh. Instead, the software will function as a ‘black box’ digital prototyping tool, requiring the user to simply describe the physical characteristics of the product’s environment.” The black box, she added, will automatically handle the simulation setup and processing details, allowing the user to see how the product performs.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

I just wanted to say, this is an awesome thread! So many great resources on virtual Space simulation/tech! Thanks! (I should visit SB&T more often!)

 

[EarthlingX]

Thank you for taking your time to check it out, and if you check this corner of SDC more often, it will be undoubtedly beneficial

I'll just drop some more :

arxiv.org : Improving Learning in Science and Mathematics with Exploratory and Interactive Computational Modelling

Rui Gomes Neves, Jorge Carvalho Silva, Vítor Duarte Teodoro
(Submitted on 23 Jun 2010)

Abstract: Scientific research involves mathematical modelling in the context of an interactive balance between theory, experiment and computation. However, computational methods and tools are still far from being appropriately integrated in the high school and university curricula in science and mathematics. In this chapter, we present a new way to develop computational modelling learning activities in science and mathematics which may be fruitfully adopted by high school and university curricula. These activities may also be a valuable instrument for the professional development of teachers. Focusing on mathematical modelling in the context of physics, we describe a selection of exploratory and interactive computational modelling activities in introductory mechanics and discuss their impact on student learning of key physical and mathematical concepts in mechanics

modellus.fct.unl.pt : Modellus - Interactive modelling with mathematics.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

Thank you for taking your time to check it out, and if you check this corner of SDC more often, it will be undoubtedly beneficial

I'll just drop some more :

arxiv.org : Improving Learning in Science and Mathematics with Exploratory and Interactive Computational Modelling...

A nice article. What impressed me the most was a fairly significant positive response rate amongst the students. Even though the implementation of Modellus seemed to have similar success levels of simply another course (22% IIRC) at improving aptitude, that's pretty significant if you view it as a course component in itself.

But, what I'd really, really like to see would be similar types of programs used in lower education in order to help young students visualize exactly what it is they are learning. Some of that is done by teachers already but, in many cases they simply do it on their own using demonstrations, labs and group activities that help to drive home certain points.

But, if students could actually see the significance of a misplaced decimal point or a failure to adequately convert measuring systems can result in their really neat model flying for years in space only to smush itself to bits on the surface of another planet... well, perhaps they'll come to understand how those numbers truly translate.

One could imagine seeing high-school students working in groups to come up with the most efficient launch method for an imaginary spaceship, modeling the impact of more efficient thermal insulation on a community's power supply, basic chemistry labs on the PC for "take home" work, etc...

I remember a course on population dynamics I took while in college and the instructor's fascination with a new game that had just come out - Civilization. Now, I'm a big Civilization fan and was at the time so, I knew where he was coming from. BUT, the course helped me put the gameplay into an entirely new perspective. I had a lot of conversations with the instructor over possible applications of the software in his course and we enjoyed discussing possible inclusions to Civ that would be helpful. But, at that time, it wasn't something that was easily moddable. Today, however, with it's modular nature, Python and C++, it's heavily moddable and could be an aid in several types of simulations. Sim City also came up in discussions as a means to add relevance to course materials.

Those aren't specialized apps though. After all, they're "games" - They're not meant specifically to be instructive or even accurate models. However, many games today are heavily moddable AND also feature components for accurately depicting physics, for instance. One day, we might see someone like Electronic Arts producing "Educational Games" for schools that are more focused on core curriculum and are constructed to be used in a classroom setting. I'd really like to see that and, if I was at EA or similar producer, I'd be pushing for that kind of application of their talents.

 

[EarthlingX]

Games are similar to stories, which might not be true, but still bring some knowledge, or nonsense, depending.

NASA and Disney :
http://www.nasa.gov : Buzz Lightyear's Space Station Adventures on DVD

With the "Toy Story" franchise returning to the big screen, fans of the films can learn about real-life space travel, thanks to a DVD inside look at the International Space Station from that fictional space ranger, Buzz Lightyear. The 12-inch-tall action star spent more than 15 months on the orbital outposed, before returning to Earth aboard space shuttle Discovery's STS-128 mission on Sept. 11, 2009, flying to space as part of an education initiative between Disney Parks, Pixar and NASA.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYB4Xuj5ktA[/youtube]

Buzz's trip to the station kicked off the Space Ranger Education Series – part of NASA's "Toys in Space," an educational program for teachers and students. Additionally, NASA and Disney also launched a set of educational online game as part of the Space Ranger Education Series, both in the NASA Kids' Club. The series includes fun, educational games for students, as well as materials for educators to download and integrate into their classroom curriculum.

 

[EarthlingX]

www.spaceref.com : NASA Invites Journalists, Video Game Experts to Review Online Game

PRESS RELEASE
Date Released: Monday, June 28, 2010
Source: NASA HQ

News media and video game reviewers have an opportunity to preview a new NASA video game, Moonbase Alpha, in advance of its worldwide release.

Moonbase Alpha is a game with single and multiplayer options where players step into the role of an exploration team member in a futuristic 3-D lunar settlement. Their mission is to restore critical systems and oxygen flow after a nearby meteor strike cripples a solar array and life support equipment.

NASA will release the game on Valve's Steam network on Tuesday, July 6. The Army Game Studio produced the game with development by Virtual Heroes, a division of Applied Research Associates in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Reviewers can get early access to the game by contacting Mitch Gross of Virtual Heroes at 347-688-9703 or mgross@virtualheroes.com by July 1.

The game is a proof of concept to show how NASA content could be combined with a cutting-edge game engine to produce an experience that inspires interest in science, technology, engineering and math - skills critical to achieving NASA's exploration goals.

For more information about Moonbase Alpha, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/moonbasealpha

For information about NASA's education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYUkvmBp9fs[/youtube]


http://www.nasa.gov : NASA - Moonbase Alpha

What is Moonbase Alpha?

A game featuring:

* Realistic NASA exploration scenarios
* Immersive 3D graphics
* Solo or team play
* VOIP chat
* Alternate voicable text chat

Moonbase Alpha is a game where players step into the role of an exploration team member in a futuristic 3-D lunar settlement.

Their mission is to restore critical systems and oxygen flow after a nearby meteor strike cripples a solar array and life support equipment.

...COMING JULY 6th!

 

[Valcan]

http://www.spaceref.com : NASA Invites Journalists, Video Game Experts to Review Online Game

PRESS RELEASE
Date Released: Monday, June 28, 2010
Source: NASA HQ

News media and video game reviewers have an opportunity to preview a new NASA video game, Moonbase Alpha, in advance of its worldwide release.

Moonbase Alpha is a game with single and multiplayer options where players step into the role of an exploration team member in a futuristic 3-D lunar settlement. Their mission is to restore critical systems and oxygen flow after a nearby meteor strike cripples a solar array and life support equipment.

NASA will release the game on Valve's Steam network on Tuesday, July 6. The Army Game Studio produced the game with development by Virtual Heroes, a division of Applied Research Associates in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Reviewers can get early access to the game by contacting Mitch Gross of Virtual Heroes at 347-688-9703 or mgross@virtualheroes.com by July 1.

The game is a proof of concept to show how NASA content could be combined with a cutting-edge game engine to produce an experience that inspires interest in science, technology, engineering and math - skills critical to achieving NASA's exploration goals.

For more information about Moonbase Alpha, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/moonbasealpha

For information about NASA's education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYUkvmBp9fs[/youtube]


http://www.nasa.gov : NASA - Moonbase Alpha

What is Moonbase Alpha?

A game featuring:

* Realistic NASA exploration scenarios
* Immersive 3D graphics
* Solo or team play
* VOIP chat
* Alternate voicable text chat

Moonbase Alpha is a game where players step into the role of an exploration team member in a futuristic 3-D lunar settlement.

Their mission is to restore critical systems and oxygen flow after a nearby meteor strike cripples a solar array and life support equipment.

...COMING JULY 6th!

Thats it? No moon city to build a base in. No resource allocation? No moon buggy races!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!! NASA YOU FAIL!!

 

[EarthlingX]

Thats it? No moon city to build a base in. No resource allocation? No moon buggy races!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!! NASA YOU FAIL!!

I emailed for access, will see what gives. It is also closed source, as much as i can tell, and i see no modding capability, to add to the suck factor.

I'm also very unimpressed with 'America's Army' game, with its super small maps. It looks to me more of a promotional thing than anything useful. Let's hope it has at least more than one mission ..

 

[Valcan]

Thats it? No moon city to build a base in. No resource allocation? No moon buggy races!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!! NASA YOU FAIL!!

I emailed for access, will see what gives. It is also closed source, as much as i can tell, and i see no modding capability, to add to the suck factor.

I'm also very unimpressed with 'America's Army' game, with its super small maps. It looks to me more of a promotional thing than anything useful. Let's hope it has at least more than one mission ..

Yea i mean content is the thing people want. It looks great but they should have gone for something more MMO like. There are a few games out now where you build you guild house or in some places a entire city. Give me the ability to invest in mining machines and such and build my own place yea ill play.

Tiny maps and tiny missions=FAIL

 

[EarthlingX]

I just noticed i got me an email with Beta key and instructions

I'll spam about it a bit later

 

[EarthlingX]

Game is distributed through STEAM, which i do not use, nor will, so it is not for me.

Perhaps next time, without STEAM.