MOFFETT FIELD, CA - March 09, 2010
-- NASA today unveiled an interactive computer simulation that allows
virtual explorers of all ages to dock the space shuttle at the
International Space Station, experience a virtual trip to Mars or a
lunar impact, and explore images of star formations taken by the Hubble
Space Telescope.
In an effort to excite young people about
space and NASA's missions, the agency has launched the online Space
Communication and Navigation (SCaN) simulation, designed to entertain
and educate. The interactive simulation offers a virtual 3-D experience
to visualize how data travels along various space communications paths.
"The elaborate space communications networks that connect
scientists and engineers with NASA's spacecraft is essential to all of
NASA's missions and can be a challenging concept to comprehend," said
Barbara Adde, a policy and strategic communications manager for the
Office of Space Communications and Navigation at NASA Headquarters in
Washington. "This simulation helps explain this complex infrastructure
in an engaging way by using an interactive 3-D game."
The
interactive Space Communication and Navigation simulation allows
visitors to select spacecraft and experience a "flythrough," or a
tutorial with images and descriptions of NASA's three space
communication networks. For example, the Near Earth Network flythrough
shows how data originates at an antenna at McMurdo Station,
McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. The data is then sent to NASA's Ice, Cloud,
and land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat, as it passes overhead.
The
Space Network flythrough also shows how data is relayed from NASA's
White Sands Test Facility, N.M., to the space station via the Tracking
and Data Relay Satellite System, a network of communication satellites
and ground stations NASA uses for space communications.
Finally,
in the Deep Space Network demonstration, visitors learn how NASA
communicates with the Mars Exploration Rovers, Sprit and Opportunity,
by using the Madrid Deep Space Network antenna to send data to the Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter, which then relays the data to the rover.
"Making
this interactive simulation available to young people is important and
may lead them to consider a career in engineering, science or
information technology as it relates to space," said Chris C. Kemp,
chief information officer at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett
Field, Calif. "NASA is embracing the fact that programs like this help
convey NASA's message to people who respond well to virtual and online
learning environments."
The space communication network
simulation features nine spacecraft to choose from, including the
Hubble Space Telescope, the space station, the space shuttle orbiter,
the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, Cassini, the Lunar CRater
Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), ICESat and Aura. Once a
spacecraft is contacted, visitors can request actions such as "choose
an imaging target" and "take pictures" of the Crab Nebula as seen from
Hubble, or view videos of the space shuttle
docking at the station.
In
addition to the Space Communication and Navigation simulation, NASA
provides interactive applications and other online educational tools on
its Web site.
To explore the Space Communication and
Navigation network simulation, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/3d_resources/spacecomm.htmlFor more information about the Space Communications and Navigation network, visit: http://www.spacecomm.nasa.gov For more information about NASA's educational resources, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education