COLLABORATING WITH TECH GIANTS INCLUDING MICROSOFT, NASA IS NOW ABLE TO CONQUER THE UNIVERSE WITHOUT NEEDING TO LEAVE EARTH - AND YOU CAN COME ALONG FOR THE RIDE

Reported by Libby Plummer

Virtual reality (VR) is bringing space closer to armchair astronauts than ever before. Not only is it opening up the galaxy to those of us that will never make it beyond the Kármán line, it’s also helping astronauts train for the harsh environment of microgravity and scientists for their projects.

HOW WE’RE USING VR FOR SPACE

Training astronauts

Before they go into space, astronauts need to be trained up for the conditions they will face. VR enables astronauts to train in a space environment, such as wearing a headset while on a weightlessness-simulating plane and in NASA’s Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO).

Planning routes on Mars

Using VR, scientists are able to create a reconstruction of the Martian surface which can be worked on collaboratively - for example, to set the course and targets for NASA’s Curiosity or Perseverance rover on the surface of the Red Planet.

Modelling spacecraft and machinery

Engineers are able to explore detailed models of spacecraft as they are being designed, allowing their design to be transformed and visualised in a way that’s true to scale - something that could never be done before unless a lot of time and money was put into creating a 3D print.

Guiding astronauts on board the ISS

Astronauts complete complicated procedures on board the ISS. VR allows the opportunity for experts on Earth to guide residents of the Earth-orbit habitat - for example, opening hatches and putting out fires come with written procedures. With VR, a task that takes four hours could take one hour.

In March 2017 a virtual recreation of the International Space Station (ISS) was launched for the Oculus Rift VR headset. Mission:ISS, which was made in collaboration with NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency, is the work of visual effects firm Magnopus, based in Los Angeles. “We started with engineering models from NASA at Johnson Space Center,” Ben Grossmann, VR director of the experience and co-founder of Magnopus, tells All About Space. “Then we scoured the freely available images on NASA’s websites for photo and video references, which our artists used when they added details. It was quite the research project because there’s so much activity on the ISS, and it’s so difficult to ‘take inventory’ regularly and get any confidence that something is where we thought it might be”.