ARES

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iReh8iv_r5RDe_9EAGCsz-xjKyIzX6xb9GQ1NYPPbzY/edit?usp=sharing

https://diegolibot.github.io/

What exactly does it do?

It’s a game that allows you complete several missions, with different problems, in which you learn, along other crew members that the captain will choose, and throughout it all, a story will unravel because the decisions that are made affect the course of it.

In the main menu we find two buttons, one to start the game and  another button where you can see various sources of information. At the top area, there is a button called "Chapters" in which you can see the progress of the player and observe the other chapters, however if it is a chapter that has not been unlocked, the player will not be able to open it. Finally, there is another button for resources from which the sources can be seen of information.

How does it work?

The protagonist will make a series of decisions, as simple as deciding how the captain will look, and who the crew members will be, but also really tough ones that will have an impact not only on them, but also on his team and the success of the mission.

In the code, our game works thanks to different executable files that we create in the JavaScript programming language, we also made use of design libraries, HTML, among others. 

The players begin by designing the captain according to their tastes and choosing their team, once this is done the players need to complete the first chapter before being able to continue with the story and thus move on to later chapters, we implemented this so that the story would have continuity and the users follow the logical order of a true mission, it should be noted that once all the chapters are unlocked, the user can freely enter the chapter of their choice.

Benefits

It is a game in a story format divided by chapters, so if the user wants to "relive" a chapter, either for educational purposes, to understand once again what happened or simply for fun, they can do it. Our protagonist, the captain, does not have gender, nationality, or physical features, he has no face, which makes it easier for the user to relate to him and to put themselves more easily in the captain's place.

What do you hope to achieve?

We hope that through our video game, people of any age, but especially middle schoolers, will be able to learn about the various dangers and problems that can occur during a journey to Mars such as equipment failure, being away from our loved ones or having to communicate with the earth, while having fun and progressing little by little in the story as later chapters are unlocked.

We wanted to develop a way in which everyone could learn while playing a game, specifically trying to spark curiosity in middle schoolers. We hope that our game can inspire kids to get interested in topics regarding science or space. Maybe someday one of those kids will be able to become Captain in real life. We strive to change human society so that science is perceived as fun and not bland or overly technical. We want to ignite the hunger for knowledge and have people go beyond. 

Tools

Programming

• JQUERY
• P5
• Bootstrap
• JS

Drawings

• Autodesk sketchbook pro

NASA Data

We mainly used information provided by NASA, both from the specific challenge resources, but also searching for it separately. We read and synthesized the information presented, so that users could understand it thoroughly. 

This information inspired us to make scientific knowledge more accessible and understandable for middle schoolers, seeing that much of the information had complex titles and many specialized terms, inspired us to be able to transmit that same knowledge to people who do not have a scientific background. This also prompted us to improve ourselves and learn more things since on the several occasions in which we came across technicalities that were incomprehensible even to us.

Space travel is extremely complex. It is as wonderful as it is dangerous, and it shows us that we still have so many things to discover, learn and develop.  Overall, we had a really fulfilling experience. Although we had a few slips, we had lots of fun and learned many new things. We acquired a deeper understanding of the problems related to space travel– many of which we hadn’t reflected on previously.

On the first day of the event, we established what we were going to develop for this hackathon. Days before this we had chosen the challenge, and we had previously known the skills of the members of our team, but this call helped to determine specific tasks for each of us.

During the second day we ran into a few issues. Our time management hadn’t gone exactly to plan and we still had to develop around two thirds of our project. Dealing with hard-to-swallow information and trying to turn it into easy to comprehend bites for middle schoolers was also really challenging as most of it was about of genetic or anatomical aspects, as well as the fact of wanting to give more in-depth explanations, without touching aspects as technical as gene names or an anatomical structures that middle schoolers will rarely be able to identify.

Throughout the challenge, we ran into some issues, like understanding the information provided by NASA, because we didn't know much about the dangers of space travel, and understanding the specialized contents of the topics took a while. We also had some problems trying to code our game, because code language can be tricky at times.

Creating around 10 characters from scratch, working on backgrounds and transitions was a great feat too. We had some complications with the color palette and facial expressions, but ultimately it was done.

We learned how to use various applications and tools that helped us carry out this project. Working with friends will be unforgettable, as it is a very enriching experience. Thanks to this, we learned about communication and teamwork within a healthy coexistence, full of tolerance and in a calm environment.

Gravity chapter:

• Blottner, D. (2017). Global gene expression analysis highlights microgravity sensitive key genes in longissimus dorsi and tongue of 30 days space-flown mice. Genelab-data.ndc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://genelab-data.ndc.nasa.gov/genelab/accession/GLDS-135/.
• John E. Hall & compañía (2016). Guyton y Hall Tratado de Fisiología Médica. Elsevier, 13 ed,  España. Retrieved 3 October 2021.

Radiation chapter:

• M. Davis, C. (2019). Space Radiation-Induced Cognitive Deficits Following Head-Only, Whole Body, or BodyOnly Exposures. Three.jsc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://three.jsc.nasa.gov/articles/Cog_Defects_Davis-Rabin.pdf.
• M Galazka, J. (2019). Transcriptomic analysis of spleens from mice subjected to chronic low-dose radiation, hindlimb unloading or a combination of both. Genelab-data.ndc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://genelab-data.ndc.nasa.gov/genelab/accession/GLDS-211/.

Hostile and closed environments chapter:

• Garrett-Bakelman, F. (2019). The NASA Twins Study: A multidimensional analysis of a year-long human spaceflight. Research Gate. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332379687_The_NASA_Twins_Study_A_multidimensional_analysis_of_a_year-long_human_spaceflight.

Distance from earth chapter:

• Whiting, M. (2021). 5 Hazards of Human Spaceflight. NASA. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/5-hazards-of-human-spaceflight.

Injury & illness chapter:

• V. Rivera, M. (2020). Medicina humana espacial: performance fisiológico y contramedidas para mejorar la salud del astronauta. Scielo Perú. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from http://www.scielo.org.pe/scielo.php?pid=S2308-05312020000200303&script=sci_arttext.
• Horie, K. (2019). Down-regulation of GATA1-dependent erythrocyte-related genes in the spleens of mice exposed to a space travel. Scientific reports, 9(1), 7654. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44067-9

Garden wilt chapter:

• Hardie, K. (2020). “Astroagricultura”: cómo cultivar plantas en el espacio. Scienceinschool.org. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://www.scienceinschool.org/es/article/2020/astrofarmer-how-grow-plants-space-es/.
• Patel, Z.S. (2020). Red risks for a journey to the red planet: The highest priority human health risks for a mission to Mars. npj Microgravity 6, 33. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-020-00124-6

Isolation chapter:

• Patel, Z.S.(2020). Red risks for a journey to the red planet: The highest priority human health risks for a mission to Mars. npj Microgravity 6, 33 . Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-020-00124-6

Gravity & radiation comeback chapter:

• Lacobas, D. (2008). Effect of microgravity on brain gene expression in mice. Genelab-data.ndc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://genelab-data.ndc.nasa.gov/genelab/accession/GLDS-32/.
• Blottner, D. (2017). Global gene expression analysis highlights microgravity sensitive key genes in longissimus dorsi and tongue of 30 days space-flown mice. genelab-data.ndc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://genelab-data.ndc.nasa.gov/genelab/accession/GLDS-135/.
• Chakraborty, N. (2020). Gene-Metabolite Network Linked to Inhibited Bioenergetics in Association With Spaceflight-Induced Loss of Male Mouse Quadriceps Muscle. ASBMR. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from https://asbmr.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jbmr.4102.
• Gambara G,. (2017). Microgravity-Induced Transcriptome Adaptation in Mouse Paraspinal longissimus dorsi Muscle Highlights Insulin Resistance-Linked Genes. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from doi: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00279. 
• Raúl Carrillo Espera,b,Juan Alberto Díaz Ponce Medranoc ,Carlos Alberto Peña Pérezd , Oscar Iván Flores Riverae , Adriana Ortiz Trujilloe , Osvaldo Cortés Antonioe , Joel Cruz de Jesúse , Luis Miguel Méndez Saucedoe (2015). Efectos fisiológicos en un ambiente de microgravedad , Medic Graphic. Retrieved 3 October 2021, from doi: https://www.medigraphic.com/pdfs/facmed/un-2015/un153c.pdf

#science, #videogame, #programming, #teenager, #Mars, #macaco, #story, #ARES, #foreverybody, #Marsmission, #shareknowledge, #webprogramming

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.