F6

Miri | On the Way to the Sun

OPERATION: PROJECT PARKER SOLAR PROBE

High-Level Project Summary

We designed and made a board game illustrating both the challenges and accomplishments that the Parker Solar Probe has made thus far. Our game is inspired by a classic board game "snake and ladder" , fusing outer space elements into it to greater create a game that's just right to the point of perfection. All of this wouldn't be possible if not for the cooperation of our team members and of course the jewel of our team, captain Alex. With our game, both young and mature players can relax and enjoy the joy of playing while getting to know how the Parker Solar Probe works.

Link to Final Project

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-HUr1sQXjaViKoADbBvUV_ltYBDzqHW3/view?usp=sharing

Link to Project "Demo"

https://youtu.be/7F9ViC40dBc

Detailed Project Description

Here is a illustration of how the game is played available at https://youtu.be/_t49kUjqego . Inspired by "snake and ladder", we had drawn both space and earth as our background, with circles on top of it acting as steps for players' "probe" to land. We also prepared a series of related achievements and punishments (available at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b20wxwbf3_5aON-SVhFiQw7zhVyzx_yx/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105769807724736339610&rtpof=true&sd=true) , which we had made a list of it set to be read alongside while playing the game, with countless easily understandable tips and knowledge available of the grab. Everything is designed with understanding in point, we simplified the data we collected on NASA's database in order to let even the most obscure things understandable by even toddlers. To enjoy the game, players only need to roll a dice, and what's even more awesome is that no prerequisites are needed. Luck is the only thing that's important (of course) for a player to win the game. We used manila cards to make the game, and the background is coloured using both watercolour and coloured pencils. This is to greater simplify the learning threshold, especially among young players which might have difficulties in understanding how to use computers.

Space Agency Data

We utilized data from NASA to make our achievements and punishments available. For example, how is the shield of the Parker Solar Probe keeps it cooled down. In conclusion, NASA's data had greatly saved us time to find resources, thus making our project a reality.

Hackathon Journey

It isn't easy for us. Unlike many who get to prepare weeks or months before the game starts, we only get to know about the Nasa Space Apps challenge days before it starts. All of our team members are full-time high school students and are burdened by heavy school work. We basically had no time to start preparing before the game starts, but we are grateful that it was taken place on weekends. Frankly, we knew not much about space-related things before the game. But, with the help of Nasa Space Apps, it's almost like we entered a new world. Our team chose to make a board game because it's to ensure that all audiences, whether young or old, are able to enjoy and learn to the fullest. The results and the experience are astonishing (we think). And we definitely learn a lot more about space than before. Our team leader, Alex did all the shootings and editing by himself and he said that being able to join the game is one of the most righteous acts he made as it is both fun (but a bit challenging) and educative for him. Ngui is the painter on our team. He nailed all the paintings by himself and I would say that he is the MVP of the team. He gave us a ton of ideas and prepared us with the materials that we need. He said that although he's good at painting, this challenge is certainly very challenging indeed as there's not much time to paint (it takes a lot of time to make a good painting, you know), but with the help of the team, all of this is possible. Christopher and Maximillian both said that they weren't giving much hope to the project, but as time goes on, they started to treat the project attentively. They proved to be extremely helpful to the project, in which they are the ones that prepared the information and help Ngui paint to make our board game possible. Despite the short time to make the project, it definitely educated us a lot. Our project wouldn't be possible if not for the cooperation of all team members. Lastly, we would like to especially grate teacher Teo as he's the one that introduced us to the challenge. And he's very helpful in teaching us about it. If not for his help, there will be no team F6. This challenge is a great opportunity for all of us and we'll definitely join again in the future.