High-Level Project Summary
Imagine you are the Little Prince from the famous story, beginning your journey from Earth to Mars. How do you get to your destination safely? Our team created 5 games to help middle schoolers understand 5 hazards of space travel and how to survive them. At the end of the games, the players will have learned lots of new knowledge regarding the dangers (and fun!) of space traveling. They will also know how to survive on space trips and have some basic information on the conditions of space. Our project is important because it will encourage the young generation to take an interest in space exploration and travel.
Link to Project "Demo"
Link to Final Project
Detailed Project Description
5 games to help middle schoolers survive from 5 hazards of space traveling,
Game 1: SpacePrep (Distance from Earth)
Game 2: TanMan (Space radiation)
Game 3: Spinner (Gravity)
Game 4: Space Plumber (Hostile /Closed Environment)
Game 5: Companionship (Isolation)
If the player can pass all the missions in 5 games, they will land on the Mars with their crew.
In the first game, "SpacePrep," the player learns what supplies are necessary and what else are forbidden items. If he learn well, he can pass the game.
In the second game, "TanMan," the player can grab sunscreen and water as protection from non-ionizing and ionizing radiation. Furthermore, the health bar is monitoring the radiation exposure during the game.
In the third game, "Spinner," the player will be given their weight measure for designated planet which reflects the gravity force in such planet compared to earth. Your goal is to use this as a reference to derive the rotation speed to create artificial gravity in spaceship.
In the fourth game, "Space Plumber," the player will need to monitor and repair all life support systems on the spaceship before any astronaut dies.
In the fifth game, "Companionship," the player will be able to go through daily activities to maintain good physical and mental health.
Our goals are helping the players learn the knowledge in an interesting way without pressure.
Our team used Python, Photoshop, Windows pc, iPad Pro, and a Samsung tablet.
Space Agency Data
Resources link:
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/space_radiation_ebook.pdf
https://www.nasa.gov/analogs/nsrl/why-space-radiation-matters
https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/5-hazards-of-human-spaceflight
In the process of developing the game, "TanMan", we discovered from the space agency data that sunscreen and water can protect one from non-ionizing and ionizing radiation, which inspired us to create a game that utilizes sunscreen and water as "shield" for the player.
Hackathon Journey
This is our first hackathon!! We are so excited and nervous. Before it started, there are lots of welcome and introduction videos to help us understand NASA app challenge. We really appreciate all the supports and resources provided. This is truly a well-organized event!
During this challenge, we learned how to search the space agency data, how to select and apply on our games, and how to combine all our expertise into this game.
The reason we chose this challenge is because it can perfectly combine our skills and interests. Our team members are good at drawing, coding and playing video games. This challenge is the best fit for our team.
We were brainstorming ideas how to introduce these knowledge into the game and let player have lots of fun. Some team member was assigned to search the data, the other was drawing. The game coder started to work on the game after all the outline structure were settled.
The setbacks were we couldn't have enough time to finish the project . Although we have great communication and sparkle in our team, we wish we can have more time to complete the project.
References
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/space_radiation_ebook.pdf
https://www.nasa.gov/analogs/nsrl/why-space-radiation-matters
https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/5-hazards-of-human-spaceflight
https://www.airspacemag.com/space/when-nasa-ordered-astronauts-quit-smoking-180951348/
https://www.fi.edu/blog/5-foods-astronauts-cant-eat-in-space
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2013/09/14/the-skies-the-limits/
https://www.rd.com/list/foods-banned-space/
Our team used python, pygame, photoshop, windows pc, ipad pro, samsung tablet.
Tags
#game, #Mars, #NASA, #SpaceHazard
Global Judging
This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.