We had created a fulldome show about Mars for Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium detailed elsewhere at this site. Included was a scene where a NASA "Mars plane" flew through a big canyon on the planet. The scene was one of the more memorable in the show. Then, in response to a request from the Houston Museum of Natural Science [HMNS], we felt the same idea could be used as a real-time simulation teaching tool. Since flight on Mars would involve creating lift in the thinner atmosphere, what differences could be taught compared to flight on Earth.
The Unity game engine has become a popular platform for creating interactive content. Its toolset has much in common with the animation and visual effects applications used at the studio. As part of a summer program involving high school students interesting in gaming, NASA funded a project involving the creation of various educational games. Home Run Pictures' creative director's son, Warren Casey, working with four other high school students in Houston were tasked with programming parts of these simulations using Unity. Our more experienced animators would help where needed.
The plane had to be designed to realistically fly and be controlled aerodynamically as if it was in the lower gravity and thinner atmosphere of Mars. Autodesk Maya software was used to model the plane and its control surfaces. Flight control was with standard Logitek or X-Box controllers. An actual Mars canyon area, the Ophir Chasma, was created using NASA MOLA elevation data and photographic surface textures. Addional detailing and coding was added by Home Run Pictures animator Glen Johnson, working with the students, using Autodesk Mudbox. Techniques to allow the Unity package to display the large area of the canyon quickly without any lag in the visual presentation were also coded.
The task for students playing the game was to fly the plane to one of several landing strips and sucessfully land, avoiding a sandstorm that was coming or other exploration aimed missions. Various starting points could be selected as well as many modular display options geared to allow various computer interfaces to be created to build a "mission control" setup. The game was first used in the Houston "Expedition Center" where a group of students visiting were challenged to complete a task like they were in a real NASA mission control situation, with pilots, navigators, flight controlers, etc.
Optional projection cameras were later included in the simulator to allow the game to be played in small portable planetarium domes, giving students attempting to fly the plane a dramatic immersive feel playing in a 360 degree view of the planet Mars. A version for use with virtualreality [VR] headsets is also planned. Other simulations are in the works... a Moon base, an submersible exploration of the wreck of the Titanic and a coral reef treasure hunting adventure. Further details of the Mars project can be seen at the VR@HomeRunPictures SITE. And OTHER GAMES in the series.
Soundtrack courtesy of MK2 |
