NASA plans LunarSIM game by 2011

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By Rob Coppinger on August 12, 2008 1:45 PM
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/hyperbola/2008/08/nasa-plans-lunarsim-game.html
NASA had been planning to create its own massively multi-player online
game but its Glenn Research Center's Educational Programs Office has
decided to enter the games arena with a request for proposals for a
$200,000 contract to develop an interactive educational lunar base
design and exploration simulation
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The above blog has some interesting links and information.
Maybe our game playing grandson will find something of interest in
what comes of this.
Would be nice to have kids get interested in setting up a lunar base
and maybe doing it through an on-line game would help.

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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http://procurement.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/synopsis.cgi?acqid=128415
DEVELOPMENT OF A NASA-BASED MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE LEARNING GAME
Synopsis - Jan 16, 2008

General Information
Solicitation Number: MMORFI
Posted Date: Jan 16, 2008
FedBizOpps Posted Date: Jan 16, 2008
Original Response Date: Feb 15, 2008
Current Response Date: Feb 15, 2008
Classification Code: D -- Information technology services, incl.
telecom services
NAICS Code: 541511 - Custom Computer Programming Services
Contracting Office Address NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 210,
Greenbelt, MD 20771

Description  NASA Learning Technologies Request for Information:
Development of a NASA-based Massively Multiplayer Online Learning Game

Introduction

The NASA Learning Technologies (LT) Project Office supports projects
that deliver NASA relevant content through innovative applications of
technologies to enhance education in the areas of Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Research and development in each
of the STEM areas are at the core of the LT mission. LT seeks to
enhance formal and informal education in STEM fields with the goal of
increasing the number of students in those fields of study. The LT is
currently evaluating the development of a NASA-based massively
multiplayer online educational game (MMO).

Background

Persistent immersive synthetic environments in the form of massive
multiplayer online gaming and social virtual worlds, initially
popularized as gaming and social settings, are now finding growing
interest as education and training venues. There is increasing
recognition that these synthetic environments can serve as powerful
"hands-on" tools for teaching a range of complex subjects, including
STEM-based instruction. Virtual worlds with scientifically accurate
simulations could permit learners to tinker with chemical reactions in
living cells, practice operating and repairing expensive equipment,
and experience microgravity – making it easier to grasp complex
concepts and quickly transfer this understanding to practical
problems. MMOs help players develop and exercise a skill set closely
matching the thinking, planning, learning, and technical skills
increasingly in demand by employers today. These skills include
strategic thinking, interpretative analysis, problem solving, plan
formulation and execution, team-building and collaboration, and
adaptation to rapid change.

The power of games as educational tools is rapidly gaining
recognition. NASA is in a position to develop an online game that
functions as a persistent, synthetic environment supporting education
as a laboratory, a massive visualization tool, and collaborative
workspace while simultaneously drawing users into a challenging,
game-play experience.

Objective for Request for Information

A NASA-based MMO built on a game engine that includes powerful physics
capabilities could support accurate in-game experimentation and
research. It should simulate real NASA engineering and science
missions in a medium that is comfortable and familiar to the majority
of students in the United States today. A NASA-based MMO could provide
opportunities for students to investigate STEM career paths while
participating in engaging game-play. Through a NASA-based MMO,
students will gain insight into a wide range of exciting career
opportunities and be encouraged to make educational choices that lead
them into STEM fields of study and eventually the STEM careers needed
to fulfill NASA's Vision for Space Exploration. Learning Technologies
is seeking input on how to accomplish those goals.

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[PPT]

NASA Constellation Program Modeling and Simulation

File Format: Microsoft Powerpoint - View as HTML
Constellation Leverages Unique Skills and Capabilities Throughout NASA
and the Aerospace ... that enables the integration into program-level
models and sims ...
www.msco.mil/files/DMSC/2007/Monell_NASA.ppt

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http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/hyperbola/2008/02/nasa-employs-video-game-compan.html
NASA employs video game company for Constellation
By  Rob Coppinger on February 25, 2008 2:06 PM

Last week Maryland based-computer game company Vision Videogames began
work under a contract with NASA for a 3D visualisation software
package for the US space agency's Constellation programme.

Called SIMConstellation, its graphical elements showing 3D Ares
rockets and the Orion crew exploration vehicle and Altair lunar lander
will incorporate engineering and performance data. This will enable
NASA engineers to literally see trade space studies change effects to
the vehicles and missions' parameters.

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http://www.vision-play.com/products/game2/overview3.html
SimCEV | Overview

In the fall of 2005, Vision Systems was contracted by NASA to create
the first interactive simulation of the proposed Crew Exploration
Vehicle, CEV (now Orion).

The resulting software, SimCEV, is based on the multi faceted
Renderware based SpaceStationSim simulation engine and simulates both
the Orion vehicle and the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) in
flight, along with an interactive, partially autonomous crew. SimCEV
is demonstration level software, currently able to interact with NASA
Strider fault detection software, and eventually able to visualize
high fidelity NASA simulation engines like SimStation.

In its current form, SimCEV simulates life support, interior ergonomic
design, astronaut interaction, supply needs, and flight configuration.

SimCEV is designed to eventually be a collaborative systems
engineering and integration platform, capable of running on server
based networks, allowing multiple inputs from individuals miles apart,
similar to massive multiplayer online gaming systems (MMOG).

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http://www.hobbyspace.com/Simulators/index.html
Space Simulators
Like being there...

A space simulator can be as simple as a spacecraft simulation program
running on your PC or as elaborate as a detailed, full scale hardware
simulation of a shuttle cockpit.

Or perhaps it's a large scale group simulation carried out over the
internet in which the participants play different roles, e.g. mission
controllers or astronauts, in carrying out a mission scenario such as
launching a satellite from the shuttle.

This section provides links and descriptions of all sorts of web
resources related to both software and hardware space simulations.

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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