Spaceflight

NASA employs video game company for Constellation programme

By Rob Coppinger

Maryland based-computer game company Vision Videogames is working on a 3D visualisation software package for NASA's Constellation programme.

©Vision Videogames
Above: This SimCEV image shows early concepts of the Orion crew exploration vehicle and Altair lunar lander, then called Lunar Surface Access Module, docked together

Following a NASA-funded 2005 project called SimCEV (see above image) the new software is called SIMConstellation. Using the C++ language SIMConstellation's graphical elements are NASA's new rockets and crewed vehicles whose performance data is shown on screen when selected.

This data can be changed to show trade study decision effects on vehicle performance. Vision Videogames is also working with NASA's Ames Research Center on a robot data transfer programme to automatically upload Constellation vehicle data into the software.