Jiaba

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OzTRo4sz4t9hvbcshci4GvYwTnfjviqW/view?usp=sharing

https://github.com/tina997726/StayAlive_Code_g

game page: https://tina997726.github.io/StayAlive/

We develop a 2D game using Unity and design the scenarios using Adobe Illustrator. We want the player to experience the whole journey of being an astronaut. There are mainly 3 stages of our game: training program in NASA’s training center, life on a spaceship, and exploration on Mars.

First of all, we want to break the stereotype that only males can be astronauts. The players need to choose their sex in the beginning of the game. He/She is set to be one of the candidates chosen for the Mars mission. The first challenge to face is the 2-year training program in NASA’s training center. We designed some games related to the real-life astronaut’s training of NASA, for example, the one for extravehicular activity under water. Knowing that the gimbal rig is no longer being used nowadays, we found it interesting and decided to use it as a background to design a game for spinning training. 

After the player successfully finishes the program, he/she is ready for the 3-year space journey to Mars! On the spaceship, the player is accompanied with an AI robot 0913, which will introduce the surroundings in the beginning and provide some help during the game. The player is able to walk around and explore the spaceship. The screen will display points of several physical conditions so that the player can monitor the astronaut’s health and take corresponding actions. During the 7-month space travel, the player will be able to decide what the astronaut does by clicking or by pressing the keyboard in the first week of each month. The astronauts will follow the same routines in the following weeks. A health report is given monthly so that the player can adjust the strategy next month to improve the astronaut’s physical conditions. Besides that, the player has to stay alert for potential emergencies or technical problems, which will happen randomly. 

After the player overcomes all the difficulties and reaches Mars, he/she will have to complete the specialized missions we assign including taking pictures, finding alien lives, etc. Finally, the player will be waiting for about 18 months for the right moment to launch the spaceship and head back to Earth.

We set intelligence points of the astronaut which will display on the screen. The player can increase the points by checking NASA’s scientific data which we have collected and arranged in the following items:

1. File cabinets on the spaceship and Mars space station

2. Table on the spaceship

3. Q&A game on robot 0913

4. Emergencies

5. Mars missions

Besides that, considering the 5 health hazards of human spaceflight, values of several physical conditions of the astronaut are monitored in the game, such as 

muscles, ICP (Intracranial pressure), TBW (total body water), etc. corresponding to different health issues. The values are either displayed on the screen or given in the monthly health report.

Also, most of the items and scenarios we designed are referred to NASA’s projects or pictures, such as Curiosity and nebula. It’s worth mentioning that the Curiosity model was created using Inventor first by ourselves before turning it into pixel pictures.

As mentioned above, we chose THE TRAIL TO MARS: CAN YOU KEEP YOUR CREW ALIVE as our challenge for educational purposes. How did we decide to make a pixel game?

One of us mentioned her childhood of playing pixel games. It lets us reminisce that in about 2010, when we were about 10, keeping an electronic chicken named Tamagochi was pervasive. Suddenly, an idea emerged, how about using a pixel game to demonstrate? Therefore, we decided to make a game for remembrance of our blithe childhood. 

We started our project right after we decided to devote ourselves to this challenge. We spent about two weeks learning Unity from the beginning, and started by drawing easy objects in order to be familiar with pixels using Illustrator at the same time. We started from scratch, without any foundation.

This experience is no doubt tiring, we even pulled an all-nighter so as to achieve our goal, however, we cherish and enjoy this experience a lot. We worked, coded and drew together days and nights, fighting for the same goal. It was a commendable time.

Frustration came from time to time, especially when coding. When we encountered setbacks, we tried to be supportive to each other, took a break and had some sweets. We believe that if we gather together, we can conquer everything. 

Last but not least, we want to thank the host unit and every assistance unit for holding this event and NASA for providing lots of informative data. We are also grateful for our kind-hearted friends, they always give us help without hesitation whenever we confront obstacles. If it were not for their kindness, we might still be stuck in mistakes. 

Tools:

1. Unity
2. Adobe Illustrator
3. Inventor

From NASA’s open resources:

1. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-newest-astronauts-complete-training
2. https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stem-on-station/learning_launchers_centrifuge
3. https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/bodyinspace/
4. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-stamps-honoring-nasa-planetary-discoveries-debut-may-31
5. https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image-feature_1818.html
6. https://science.nasa.gov/m31-andromeda-galaxy
7. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/657469main_pia15791-full_full.jpg
8. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/programs/mars-exploration
9. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mariner-4
10. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html
11. https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/missions/phoenix/
12. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20081110.html
13. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/index.html
14. https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/overview/
15. https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/overview/
16. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/?order=launch_date+desc&per_page=50&page=0&search=&fs=&fc=&ft=our+solar+system%2Cmars&dp=&category=
17. https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8622/virginia-middle-school-student-earns-honor-of-naming-nasas-next-mars-rover/
18. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/news/orbital_debris.html
19. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2015/06/08/controllers-steer-station-clear-of-space-debris/
20. https://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/image-feature/space-station-regenerative-eclss-flow-diagram
21. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/eclss.html
22. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/real-martians-how-to-protect-astronauts-from-space-radiation-on-mars
23. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/programs/mars-exploration
24. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/dwarf-planets/pluto/overview/#otp_kid-friendly_pluto
25. https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/spacecraft/instruments/rad/
26. https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/F_Astronauts_in_Training.html
27. https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/cruise/#:~:text=The%20trip%20to%20Mars%20will,at%20Jezero%20Crater%20on%20Mars.
28. https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/553871main_AP_ST_Phys_ARED.pdf)
29. https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/64249main_ffs_factsheets_hbp_atrophy.pdf

Other references:

1. https://www.inverse.com/article/39130-space-camp-multi-axis-trainer-nasa-spinning-around
2. https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/odyssey
3. https://www.mars-one.com/faq/selection-and-preparation-of-the-astronauts/how-are-the-astronauts-prepared
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPinASEKA_I
5. https://buzzorange.com/techorange/2020/11/23/astronaut-emergency-in-space/
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux7QuomuVi0
7. https://www.space.com/23017-weightlessness.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Resistive_Exercise_Device
9. https://www.vghtc.gov.tw/UnitPage/RowViewDetail?WebRowsID=41faa51f-07cd-4569-ab42-27fbaefd9b9d&UnitID=642b65b8-ac30-4ef9-86de-dc3af9211d3e&CompanyID=e8e0488e-54a0-44bf-b10c-d029c423f6e7&UnitDefaultTemplate=1

#mars #astronaut #pixelart #education #game #children-oriented #spacecraft #health #Unity #Illustrator #Inventor #poplularscience

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