InterGlitch| Breakthrough
Breakthrough
InterGlitch Breakthrough
Summary
The intention of this project is not only to create awareness among the different types of rocket fuels and engines we use to propel our actual spacecraft but also to encourage the urge for researching new technologies that will allow us to maneuver with more ease throughout the space. In order to do so, we decided to create a didactic and interactive game in which you have to retrieve as many solar panels as you can. As you wander throughout the game, you will discover the different technologies that are available, allowing you not only to avoid asteroids with more ease, but to let you move and travel further away than you could possibly do with the previous tech!
How We Addressed This Challenge
InterGlitch Breakthrough solution is more than just a video game. Our proposal gives you an experience out of this world by building a unique scenario in which the user will have to adapt by varying the speeds depending on which type of rocket engine is selected. A proper selection of the rocket engine is critical in order to not only avoid asteroids with more ease, but also improving the times needed to get to our final destination.
The different rocket engines proposed, either already existent and theoretical, help the user visualize and compare the power and thrust that each one of them can supply during a semi realistic operation of avoiding meteorites.
This is key not to only understand the already existent rocket engines but to urge the need of improving said methods so we can have more control in space; less time required, more efficiency in the energy used and more understanding of our universe itself.
How We Developed This Project
Software:
- Unity
- Atom
- Procreate
Programming Language:
- C#
The desire of this project was to create awareness of the limitations of current technologies and urge the need to seek and develop solutions that will be game changer in space exploration. Thereby we decided to create a friendly way in which anyone could visualize the efficiency of the different rocket engines we use to propel our current spacecraft.
Different approaches were discussed in order to achieve this goal, nonetheless the most didactic and interactive option was the creation of a video game.
In order to do so, we use different softwares in order to fully develop our project, including applications such as “Unity”, and its native programming language C#, text code editors applications such as “Atom” were also used so we could share the same scripts and codes in real time. Moreover, we also used applications like “Procreate” that involved digital drawing, since we wanted to make different rocket models based on the information gathered, rather than only altering the in-game parameters associated with them.
Hence, even though we were all working on the script, we divided tasks; whereas some gathered the behind scenes’ information to make the game more realistic , others searched for methods to introduce different characters into the game so all of the propellers could be shown meanwhile others worked on the mechanics of the game.
The development of this project took some time, because even though we have some experience programming in different languages such as python or C++, the realization and conceptualization of the video game was something new for all of our team members, since we did not only want to merely make a game, but to actually tell the story of how the rockets work and move the way they do and why further research is needed in order to outdo the current results, thereby improving over time.
How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project
Nasa's open source helped us to further understanding the already existing technologies used for rocket propellants and hinting us about what we could expect for future technologies. Hence, facilitating the background information of this project so we could spend more time worrying about the code and graphics, rather than being concerned about where to find useful and accurate information.
Project Demo
Data & Resources
Nancy Hall. (2015). Solid Rocket Engine. 10/02/2020, from NASA website: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/srockth.html
Tom Benson. (2014). Liquid Rocket Engine. 10/02/2020, from NASA website: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/rocket/lrockth.html
Rezende, Rene Nardi. (2019). Liquid Rocket Engine - Thrust Chamber Parametric Modeling - 1.3 Scope of the Work. SAE International. Retrieved from
https://app.knovel.com/hotlink/pdf/id:kt011VXTF3/liquid-rocket-engine/scope-of-the-work
Venkateswaran, S. Merkle, C.L (1996). Combustion Processes in Hybrid Rocket Engines.10/02/2020, from NASA. Retrieved from:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19960029278
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. (2016). 52nd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, July 25‐27, 2016 - 384.3.1 Hybrid Propulsion System. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Retrieved from
https://app.knovel.com/hotlink/pdf/id:kt011K64ZO/52nd-aiaa-sae-asee-joint/hybrid-propulsion-system
Johnson, Les (2018). Solar Sail Propulsion for Interplanetary Small Spacecraft. 10/02/2020, from NASA. Retrieved from:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20180003091
Michael Patterson. (2017). NASA Ion Propulsion. 10/02/2020, from NASA website:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/fs21grc.html
Loura Hall. (2019). Nuclear Thermal Propulsion: Game Changing Technology for Deep Space Exploration. 10/02/2020, from NASA website: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/game_changing_development/Nuclear_Thermal_Propulsion_Deep_Space_Exploration
Bruno, Claudio. (2008). Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Systems - Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, Volume 225 - 6.3.2 Safety Guidelines and Implementation. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Retrieved from
NASA Content Administrator. (2017). Is Warp Drive Real?. 10/02/2020, from NASA website: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/technology/warp/warp.html
Loura Hall. (2019). The Fusion Driven Rocket: Nuclear Propulsion through Direct Conversion of Fusion Energy. 10/02/2020, from NASA website:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2012_Phase_II_fusion_driven_rocket/
Mamta Patel Nagaraja. (2020). Dark Energy, Dark Matter. 10/02/2020, from NASA website: https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy
Glenn Research Center . (2020).Space Technology Game Changing Development The Fission System Gateway to Abundant Power for Exploration . 10/02/2020, from NASA website: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ns_kilopower_fs_180111.pdf