High-Level Project Summary
In this challenge we made a game to simulate a controlled landing on the surface of Mars. The player takes control of the ORION module, used by NASA for similar missions. We simulate realistic physics of Mars, such as gravitational acceleration, wind speed ,etc. The player has control over the throttle of the main engines, the pitch, roll, yaw. Upon descend, info windows educate the player of interesting facts for Mars - atmospheric conditions, pressure, atmosphere and soil composition, etc.If the player manages to slow-down the descend to a safe velocity, the module lands on the surface without a problem. Else, it crashes upon impact. The game can be played with H.O.T.A.S. controller.
Link to Project "Demo"
Link to Final Project
Detailed Project Description
Welcome to the Mars Lander simulator. In this game you take control over the ORION crew module, while descending down to the Mars surface. To help you with the descent, you have several gauges:
- Navball - on the left - helps you orient the spacecraft parallel to the surface
- Altimeter - on the right - helps you determine the altitude
- Speedometer - on the right - indicates the current descend speed.
You control the ORION with
W / S (pitch), A / D (roll), Q / E (yaw). Press C to change the camera
Press Space to fire up reverse engines and slow down your descend
With this simulation video game we want to achieve several things. First, inspire the young generation with STEM educational content, provided as the ORION capsule approaches the surface. Second, allow the player to appreciate the manual descent of the crew module, which is not an easy task. In most times, crew members have no direct visibility and have to rely heavily on onboard gauges and instruments, in order to achieve a smooth and successful landing. As the atmosphere of Mars is thin, using parachutes alone to slow down the descent is not good enough. Reverse thrusters should be used at the precise moment.
For the realization of this project we used several tools. First, the NASA mission to Mars document description - in terms or requirements, viability, resources, etc. We found several free 3D models, mentioned in the resource section. For the game development, we opted for Unreal Engine 4, as it has a descent simulation tools and is able to export the game to HTML5-based format. We added support for a HOTAS (hands on throttle-and-stick) controller that we make work just for the desktop build of the game. The idea with the HOTAS was to add a more realistic look and feel of the spacecraft controls. Las but not the least, we used real Mars GIS data, provided in one of NASA's databases, to draw the landing surface of Mars.
Overall, it was a fun challenge to complete everything on time.
Space Agency Data
https://trek.nasa.gov/mars/
https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/models
https://www.nasa.gov/content/more-about-the-human-landing-system-program
https://www.nasa.gov/nextstep/humanlander2
Hackathon Journey
We learned interesting facts on current and future NASA plans to use specialized spacecrafts and command modules, in order to perform missions to the Moon and Mars.
This is not our first year - we have participated 5 times so far in previous Space apps editions. We would like to thank the event organizers for delivering such an amazing experience for all of us!
References
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265999443_Orion_Capsule_Handling_Qualities_for_Atmospheric_Entry
Orion 3D model: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4553467
Unreal Engine 4: https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/?sessionInvalidated=true
Tags
#orion #apollo #mars #controlleddescend #simulation #videogame
Global Judging
This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.