High-Level Project Summary
Space Travelers is a game that will help kids from 10 to 14 years old learn about the inspiring story of Parker’s record-breaking journey from Earth to the Sun and all the perils it overcame on the way. Specifically, a player assembles the Parker Solar Probe and launches it into space on DELTA-4 Heavy Spacecraft. Players will learn at the same time they are having fun with all the missions the game includes, playing alone or with friends. Journey to the Sun is important because it brings a realistic experience that will arouse the children's interest.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
The game includes 5 stages and several exciting challenges. Players should help the solar probe to reach its goal by solving the challenges.
Space Agency Data
First, Journey to the Sun lets the player choose a personalized DELTA-4 Spacecraft.
The game starts by giving a brief introduction about the Parker Solar Probe and the details of this mission, which is done by using smooth and eye-catching animations. Then, the player is tasked to assemble and launch the probe into space on a Delta IV rocket. After a successful launch, the player faces the first challenge: An attack of aliens! The player must dodge all the missiles shot by the aliens and prepare for its first scientific mission, Venus Flyby, in which the first HD photos of the planet Venus are taken.
Then comes a second challenge: Saving the probe from the cloud of micrometeoroids.
At the end of the mission, the Parker Solar Probe approaches the sun like never before and while gathering and transmitting the research data encounters a big portal being formed within a coronal ejection. Turns out NASA's hidden agenda was actually all about learning about a mysteriously created space wormhole.
The game ends with an open question: What's behind the portal?
Hackathon Journey
Our experience in this Space Apps was really cool. We learned a lot about the preparation astronauts need to travel to Mars, the difficulties that they are going to encounter, and how they must take care of their health so that everything is correctly in order. What most inspired us to choose this challenge was the impact we saw it would have on children, and we felt that if we had got a cool and informative game as children, we would have been more curious about these important topics, and it is exactly what we want to generate in these new generations. The approach we used was to learn by playing, we prototyped a game that will be fun and most important, informative for kids. Every challenge we got, we faced as a team. We never worked alone on a specific task, because by helping each other we could make things better and faster.
References
Data provided by NASA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=XBudjihQKsw&feature=youtu.be Adhttps://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2021/11/10/space-dust-presents-opportunities-challenges-as-parker-solar-probe-speeds-back-toward-the-sun/d a subheading https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/traveling-to-the-sun-why-won-t-parker-solar-probe-meltbheading
Tags
#intermediate #space_exploration #sun #arts #games