High-Level Project Summary
The “ZeroX” is an application game through which kids and adults will learn about the scale of the universe and what level humankind can reach through the best telescope. At the game, the player will face asteroids, planets, stars and blackholes and the scale of the distance (e.g., light years distances). Player will learn effects of different obstacles in space at the same time they are having fun with different challenges and missions. “ZeroX” is important because it shows real capability of new technology and raise interest in space exploration.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
The game starts from the point where JWST is located, and your objective is to reach the maximum depth of space. In the game there will be 4-6 levels based on so far JWST discoveries. For instance, the first level goes from JWST point till Jupiter’s point and game explains you how big the distance between these two objects, what type of obstacles you can expect in that range. When user reaches the Jupiter, game will show the picture of the planet taken with help of JWST and will explain with explanation why it is looks different than we use to see from other telescopes, and what new we were able to discover through new James Webb telescope.
Every time user reaches level check point, he or she will get amazing facts about the JWST discoveries along with their images.
Also, there will be shown the difference between Huble and JWST photos so the people could understand the technological advancement of NASA’s JWST. After this mission player will leave solar system to explore the depth of universe history.
The game also contains challenges which necessitates user to avoid comets, meteors, stars, radiation wave, or even a black hole. If users fail to avoid them, they will be penalized, for example in case user collides a meteor then game will be over.
The final level is reaching an exoplanet. At this point players get acquainted with the fact how JWST can capture the structure of the atmosphere of exoplanets. Namely, user gets fact how exoplanets are formed, and how their atmosphere is structured. Moreover, they will get information about techniques which were used in analysis of exoplanets, e.g., HIP 65425 b.
What benefits does it have?
Children may learn while having fun using the application's games, challenges, and objectives, where they can overcome obstacles to gain a new info about JWST every time they pass new level. We suggest a game whereby students can develop an early interest in astronautics and perhaps even become NASA space explorer.
What do you hope to achieve?
hope that game makes impact to develop astronautics, interest to children about James Webb Telescope.
What tools, coding languages, hardware, or software did you use to develop your project?
As our game only includes software, we used C# and Unity engine to develop a game. And some Adobe Photoshop features to create design, icons.
Space Agency Data
During the process of making our game we made great amount of research. As a result, we accumulated an abundance of information about JWST. We only used information which are available on the official NASA website.
For example, the data provided by blogs.nasa.gov gave us a knowledge of how Webb telescope captured Jupiter’s Auroras, Hazes.
Overall, our knowledge and resources for our game about JWST were taken from NASA source.
Hackathon Journey
Honestly, it was a new experience for us because we have participated in a lot of hackathons, but hackathon which involve space exploration was a brand-new challenge to us as it is not a typical every day event in Uzbekistan.
What did you learn?
Working on solution for our challenge involved abundance of new knowledge. Throughout our journey we got familiarized with a new technological telescope. For instance, James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble Telescope, Spitzer, Chandra, WISE, etc.
What inspired your team to choose this challenge?
Before participating in this hackathon, some members of our team have been interested in spacecrafts, astronautics, and NASA throughout their childhood. So, even they watched full launch process of JWST as it was very memorable and significant for space exploration. So, after seeing this challenge in the list of NASA International Space Apps Challenge, we without a shadow of a doubt chose this topic.
What was your approach to developing this project?
Our first approach towards this challenge was applying a solution which could involve interaction to familiarize people with a new James Webb Space Telescope. Thus we developed a space game to get users attention.
How did your team resolve setbacks and challenges?
The main setback in the process of creating a particular solution was deciding one method among the burst of ideas in our team. Therefore, we resolved it by creating an interactive game.
Is there anyone you'd like to thank and why?
Our team would like to thank the organizers of this hackathon, for creating this challenge, for giving us these opportunities to resolve problems. Thank you again.
References
REFERENCES
DATA
https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/08/22/webbs-jupiter-images-showcase-auroras-hazes/
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-captures-dying-star-s-final-performance-in-fine-detail
https://thenextweb.com/news/james-webb-vs-hubble-compare-images-side-by-side
https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-reveals-cosmic-cliffs-glittering-landscape-of-star-birth
https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/about/faqs/whoIsJamesWebb.html
Tags
#software, #JWST, #NASA, #game