SpaceHunters

https://github.com/Elctrony/SpaceHunter

https://youtu.be/eAqWZeMuASc

Space exploration has always been a matter of concern to many people, but the only thing that prevented them from knowing more and educating themselves was the “How” to reach the material as the details of past journeys and experiences are only provided by NASA’s observatory websites and those aren’t always appealing ways for education by non-experts. Consequently, tons of useful data and information go untouched or become a burden with time. After all, being a reader is way different from being an explorer, but what if we allow users to be both? 

To begin with, we searched past space exploration missions and the deaths that happened, and the reasons behind these deaths: are they from high pressure? High temperature? Infection? Microbes? There were so many questions and we could reach answers for some and could not for others. 

Gathering barely enough data to begin our solution, we developed our game using Unity. We decided that the game would be divided into two parts. The first part is a spaceship exploring game, where the player controls a specific spaceship and tries to conquer other regions in space: they will be given the opportunity to structure, style, and build a space rocket in the first part of the game, and then they can launch it into space. Throughout this part, players should satisfy certain instructions to avoid hazards during their journeys: radiation, long distance and duration, sleep loss, and extreme gravity. They would be taught enough about all of these hazards. The second part is the landing: an astronaut explores a space planet and experiences struggles in the space environment: extreme gravity, disrupted sleep and circadian rhythms, limited access to medical care and supplies,... etc, and they just must survive. 

For that, we gathered 3D models for the ships and astronauts we will use in the game and coded them to operate according to the code we wrote. Every input by the user translates to different outputs in the game, whether it is movement, acceleration, firing, interacting, etc. In doing so, we used different data on Nasa’s websites, specifically NASA’s Human Research Program’s details, to gather information and implement them in the game. The Space Biology Program provided us with a better understanding of how spaceflight affects living systems in spacecraft such as the International Space Station (ISS), or in ground-based experiments that mimic aspects of spaceflight, and to prepare for future human exploration missions far from Earth; thus, users would be able to discover how biological systems respond, acclimate and adapt to the space environment.

The game system allows the player to explore different organisms’ features every time he wins a level. This encourages the players to finish the level so that they can collect and learn about more features so they could build their Space Biology Superhero and face the alien giant waiting for him at the end!

NASA’s organized resources greatly helped us in the process of data collection. Our data collection has been all written based on factual data released by NASA. The data provided by the Space Agency allowed us to give objects and portals of planets in our game accurate locations and names. Using the Unity Game engine, we were able to accurately locate these objects. This influenced us to plan and hopefully include data regarding these satellites if hit by the player. Furthermore, as the players reach a further destination in space, they will find more portals waiting for them to appear on the screen; for example, as players reach level one, they will find one portal, and when they go to the next level, they can learn more information. So we could locate these portals and warnings in different spots on the screen to make it looks like real to the players.

We have searched:

1. Top Five Technologies Needed for a Spacecraft to Survive Deep Space: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/top-five-technologies-needed-for-a-spacecraft-to-survive-deep-space
2. Human Research Program: nasa.gov/hrp
3. 5 Hazards of Human Spaceflight: https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/5-hazards-of-human-spaceflight
4. NSRL Mission: https://www.nasa.gov/analogs/nsrl

The Space Apps experience wasn’t only mind-stretching, but also long-lasting development in our minds; it led us to always want to think outside the box and go far with our imagination. We are now aware that space is not a small room, but a vast universe of celestial beings and curiosities. It’s also our job to explore it and to share our findings with the world in the most outreaching way.

The journey of the Hackathon was enriching: getting to collect a lot of data about space rockets building, hazards to avoid during building space rockets, hazards astronauts would face during their journeys, and past explorations of space was mind-blowing for us. It helped us learn what we are now set to present to the world. We believe that the players will enjoy finding out about space as much as we did through a game. Moreover, integrating all of this data in a 3D entertaining gaming experience can’t be described as an easy task, but if I were a gamer, I would play it 24/7! 

Indeed, SpaceHunters at its core is a family; a family that is bonded over the love of space exploration and the fun that arises in between. So, we instantly had our eyes sparkling when we stumbled upon “Build Space Biology Superhero”. That’s why we dug deeper to find previously applied solutions and brainstormed until we came up with SpaceHunters although we knew that it would be quite challenging. As cliché as it may seem, the greatest challenge we had was just the “start”; we were quite puzzled because we didn’t have a tight grip on which platform, IDE, programming languages..etc. we shall use in this project, but once we wrapped our skills up we uninterruptedly set the work off. Throughout developing the game, we gained insights on tactful thinking skills, time management, and properly sharing music on discord and constructive ideas.

Lastly, we would acknowledge NASA Space Apps Cairo's great help in providing the opportunity for the hackathon, the data on the space agency, and the support to explore the mysterious starry space. We are also super grateful to God and our efforts to help our target audience: the general!

1. Top Five Technologies Needed for a Spacecraft to Survive Deep Space: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/top-five-technologies-needed-for-a-spacecraft-to-survive-deep-space
2. Human Research Program: nasa.gov/hrp
3. 5 Hazards of Human Spaceflight: https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/5-hazards-of-human-spaceflight
4. NSRL Mission: https://www.nasa.gov/analogs/nsrl
5. Unity program: game building
6. Visual Studio: code running
7. Wondershare Filmora: video editing
8. Unity store: assets overview
9. Photoshop
10. https://www.nasa.gov/missions
11. Vlachopoulos, D., & Makri, A. (2017). The effect of games and simulations on higher education: a systematic literature review. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14(1). doi:10.1186/s41239-017-0062-1

#Space #Egypt #Biology_Superhero #Entertainment #Factual_Education #Unity #Space_Exploration