A journey to the Sun

High-Level Project Summary

We developed a game that takes players to the Sun with the help of the parker solar probe, where they experience the journey of the probe firsthand, which include the discoveries it made along the way and the obstacles it faced. Our game was able to collect all the trusted info about this journey and explain it in a detailed and pleasant way, allowing everybody regarding their age to understand all this data, thus solving the challenge. Knowing about the greatest achievement done by NASA means being exposed to recent advances in science, technology and engineering. So young people being exposed to our game will let them gain all this knowledge, allowing them to better the world around them.

Link to Project "Demo"

Detailed Project Description

Our game "Journey to the Sun" begins with an interface for selecting the language, entering the name and controlling the sound.


Then two icons appear, each representing one of the two chapter in the game, where the second chapter does not open until the player completes the first chapter.


When you click on the icon of the first chapter

An introduction to space weather and solar phenomena begins

Then three icons appear, each icon is responsible for illustrating the information in a simple and graphic way to appease the player.


The three stages are interconnected with each other, so the second stage does not open until the completion of the first stage, and the third stage does not open until the completion of the second stage.


In the first stage:

We Show you information about the sun, its composition and magnetic field, the solar wind and its impact on the planet and its satellites, the Earth's magnetic field, which protects it from external influences, and finally the ionosphere layer in which particles coming from outside collide

With ions in the ionosphere and how the Aurora is formed.

After this two critical questions appear to make the player more engaged with the game and to make them pay attention to every small detail we place.


And then they moves on to the second stage which explains

Solar eclipse and its four types.


Similar to the first stage the second stage also ends this stage with two simple questions about solar eclipse.


Then the third stage opens which begins with an explanation of the solar cycle of the sun, which takes place every 11 year, and by the end of the 11th year solar spots and solar storms appear.

It shows information about solar storms in the form of graphic scenes

And then the Solar Flares are explained, which are one of the most dangerous manifestations of space weather, as it has an impact on satellites, and it has been explained and the stage ends with two questions as well.


This marks the end of the first chapter of the game, so let's move on to the journey of the Parker probe in the second chapter.

When you click on the icon of the second a simulation of the design of the probe appears and what parts of the design allowed it to overcome space obstacles, where they see the pieces disassembled and has the task of designing a probe capable of touching the sun with the help of an intelligent scientist to give them important information and notes to help them construct the probe.


And when they finish the design, they finishe the first task, which is considered a part of the big task, which is the task of touching the sun.


After designing the probe moves on to the second mission


Which is to orbit the probe around the sun


And at the beginning of the stage we put a real video showing the flight path of the probe (from NASA open sources)


And then he starts the journey to the sun himself to face obstacles that have been set, overcoming which depends on the player's understanding of the previous stages

The player has to walk the entire path and he has to pass the planet Venus, where he hears strange sounds from there and uses the gravity assist for her to complete his journey to the sun and revolve around the sun

And each time he repeats the cycle, he gets closer to the sun


In the end, we explained the amazing achievements of the probe from its journey

Which is considered a breakthrough in astronomy


Benefits

Feeding the minds of young people with wonderful information about the space of our solar system and about the great inventions that humanity reaches, such as the Parker probe that was able to touch the sun

And all in a fun and entertaining way and a simple interface so that the player can imagine the scene


In addition, the game will convey the values that we should learn from the flight of the probe and its design

Where touching the sun was impossible for scientists, but if it were not for their persistence and diligence, they came up with the Parker probe, and this teaches us the principles of challenge, confrontation and diligence


We hope that the player has received all the information that we have clarified and that he has discovered new things in a non-boring and attractive way and that the principle of diligence and challenge reaches him


The tools we used in the design of the game are

•Adobe After Effects

•Adobe Photoshop

•Unity

•Adobe Premier

•Adobe Audition

•C# Language

Space Agency Data

We used NASA relevant information about the Parker solar probe's journey to the sun, encompassing all of the obstacles it encountered and discoveries it made along the way. NASA data gave us with crucial knowledge about space weather, solar phenomena, and the complete trip of the probe from start to finish.

We used this knowledge to offer scenarios in the game that explain all of this data in small capsules that surface at particular events, so that the player does not encounter information overload and children do not become bored while playing.

For example we used the resources provided in the page of our challenge. That allowed us to know more about the space weather, solar eclipses, and the aurora borealis . This allowed us to present all of this info in an organized and entertaining way.

another example was us using the NASA website to know every detail about the probe's journey. This allowed us to design a great sequence for the game, explaining every part of it in great detail. This also allowed the player to feel like they are on this journey and get a better grasp on the ideas we are trying to convey to them.

We also benefited alot from the pictures and videos of the solar phenomena and the orbit of the probe. This allowed us to get a better grasp on the journey and the phenomena.

Hackathon Journey

Our hackathon experience was amazing

Where we got to know new people of different ages and talents, which greatly increased our social network

In addition, Nasa space was the most important reason that made our eyes open to exploring outer space in a fun and distinctive way

We were also amazed by the presence of such a wonderful thing as the amazing Parker Solar Probe

While searching for it

We learned a lot about space weather, solar phenomena, and many events that happen outside in space.

The reason that inspired us to choose this challenge is that it was surprising to discover information about this wonderful space craft , it's mechanism and journey. In addition to that it messages values ​​for children as the child will learn about the probe and how scientists were able to make it.

We designed a simple and informative game that is displayed while playing.

We faced many challenges and difficulties while designing the project

Since we were dealing together for the first time but we were understandable and co-operative among each other, we were able to overcome the challenges

Where we were a group of members that made up the body of one person, which is the team so we tried to reach the best solution we could.

We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Dalia Al Fiky for helping us find information about the challenge we chose during our hackathon trip.

References

RESOURCES:




https://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/happen.html

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/the-heliopedia

http://sweap.cfa.harvard.edu/History.html

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/helios-2/in-depth

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/parker-solar-probe/in-depth/

http://sweap.cfa.harvard.edu/PSP_Spacecraft.html

http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/The-Mission/index.php#Science-Objectives

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/solar-activity/en/

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/how-scientists-around-world-track-solar-cycle-sunspots-sun

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/aurora/en/

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/spaceweather/en/

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/solar-cycles/en/

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sun-corona/en/

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/dust-warming.htmlhttps://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/science/Sunlayers.html

https://www.nasa.gov/magnetosphere

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/754/what-is-a-lagrange-point/

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/in-depth/

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/science/atmosphere-layers2.html

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/1127/10-things-to-know-about-the-ionosphere/

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/ionosphere/en/

https://www.nasa.gov/magnetosphere

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/754/what-is-a-lagrange-point/

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/f-lagrange.html

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/754/what-is-a-lagrange-point/

https://www.psfc.mit.edu/vision/what_is_plasma

https://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wplasma.html

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/in-depth/

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/news-articles/effects-of-the-solar-wind



Data




Pictures


http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/aurora-image-gallery/index.html

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/aurora-videos/index.html

https://www.freepik.com/author/freepik

https://www.freepik.com/author/ladadiart

https://www.freepik.com/author/nsit0108

https://www.freepik.com



Videos


https://youtu.be/PGElWHGX4WA

Tags

#INTERMEDIATE #SPACE EXPLORATION #ARTS #Sun #BEGINNER\YOUTH #PARKER SOLAR PROPE