Category: Other Worlds and Tech

2012: a Martian Curiosity

Posted on by Inara Pey

Update, Monday August 6th: Curiosity arrived on Mars, on time and on target, the start of what promises to be a remarkable mission of exploration. Mars was good, and allowed the rover to pass images over to Mars Odyssey for transmission to Earth. Read my report.

Later today – or in the early hours of the morning of Monday 6th August if you live on the East Coast of the USA or in Europe, something very, very remarkable will take place above the magnificent vistas of Mars: NASA’s latest mission to the Red Planet will arrive in a quite spectacular manner.

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is the biggest single payload yet sent to Mars. It comprises a rover vehicle called Curiosity, weighing-in at almost a tonne, carrying  a sophisticated science laboratory that gives the mission its name. The latter is designed to study the Martian climate and to analyse soil and rock samples to assess what the Martian environment was like in the past in terms of its potential to have been the abode of life. To contribute to thee goals, MSL has six primary mission objectives:

  1. Determine the mineralogical composition of the Martian surface and near-surface geological materials.
  2. Attempt to detect chemical building blocks of life (biosignatures).
  3. Interpret the processes that have formed and modified rocks and soils.
  4. Assess long-timescale (i.e., 4-billion-year) Martian atmospheric evolution processes.
  5. Determine present state, distribution, and cycling of water and carbon dioxide.
  6. Characterize the broad spectrum of surface radiation, including galactic radiation, cosmic radiation, solar proton events and secondary neutrons.

In addition, and while en-route to Mars, the mission has been measuring the radiation exposure experienced by the interior of the vehicle while in interplanetary space in order to better understand that medium in preparation for manned deep-space missions into the solar system.

The Rover

While some to the media descriptions have been prone to exaggeration where Curiosity is concerned (comments like “the size of an SUV” leading people to visualise something the size of a Range Rover or Jeep Cherokee), one should not doubt that, comparatively speaking, the rover is big. At around 3 metres (approx 10ft) in length, Curiosity is almost twice the length of the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) Opportunity and Spirit already on Mars, while at 900kg (1984 pounds), it is almost two-and-a-half times heavier than their combined weight.

Comparative rover sizes. Foreground: Mars Pathfinder (1997); left: Mars Exploration Rover (2003-present); right: MSL (credit: NASA)

The MERs, which arrived on Mars in 2003, were both solar-powered, as was NASA’s first mission to put a rover on Mars – the tiny Sojourner, which formed a part of the Mars Pathfinder mission of 1997. As such, the MERs were expected to only operate for some 90 days apiece – even though Opportunity is still functioning today (over 3,100 days into the mission). One of the reasons for the 90-day limit placed on the MER missions was the expectation that the rovers solar arrays would become less and less effective as the mission progressed due to the accumulation of Martian dust on their flat surfaces, reducing the amount of sunlight they could convert into power for the rovers’ battery systems. This actually did occur, but so did a series of (initially unexpected) “cleaning events”, which saw the Martian wind periodically remove dust from the arrays, restoring some of their ability to harness sunlight.

MSL is expected to operate for far longer than the MERs – a full Martian year (just under 687 days) being the planned initial mission period. It also carries far more science and other equipment on-board. As such, solar power for the vehicle is impractical. Instead, it will be powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), which utilises heat from the radioactive decay of plutonium-238. This produces around 110 watts of electrical power, generating around 2.5 kilowatt hours per day (compared to the 0.6 kilowatt hours per day generated by the MERs). In addition, the heat generated by the radioactive decay is used to warm fluids which are circulated through the rover keep electronics and other systems at acceptable operating temperatures during the harsher periods of the Martian / seasons.

MSL is not the first time RTGs have been flown to Mars by the United States; both of the Viking Landers of the 1970s were RTG-powered, and both of them, like Spirit and Opportunity, functioned well beyond their original mission times, with Viking Lander 1 operating for over six years and Viking Lander 2 for just over three-and-a-half years.

The late Carl Sagan and a full-size model of the Viking Lander from the 1970s (the Lander was similar in size and mass to the MSL)

Once on the surface, Curiosity will be able to traverse the terrain at a maximum speed of some 90 metres (300ft)  per hour, with average traverse speeds of around 30m (100ft) per hour. This compares to the MERs traversing around 100 metres per day, and means that over the course of the initial mission period, the rover should cover a minimum of some 19 kilometres (12 miles) during the initial mission period (Opportunity has, to date, travelled some 34.6 kilometres (21.5 miles). The rover will be able to calculate the distance it has travelled by means of the unique pattern the wheel treads will leave in the Martian sand; included in the thread pattern is the Morse code pattern for JPL (·— ·–· ·-··), which will be imprinted on the Martian soil once every revolution (JPL standing for “Jet Propulsion Laboratory, MSL’s “home”).  In addition, Curiosity will be able to roll over obstacles approaching 75 cm (30 in) in height.

Curiosity’s wheel treads include the Morse code pattern for JPL (·— ·–· ·-··) to help the rover calculate the distance it has travelled (credit: JPL)

Science Instruments

Some 80 Kg of Curiosty’s mass comprises the camera systems, scientific instruments, experiments and operating systems themselves. These include two on-board computer systems responsible for managing all of the rover’s operations. Both of these are radiation-hardened, with one forming the back-up to the other in case of unexpected failure. Each computer has just over 2Gb of memory and a RAD750 CPU.  For navigation, the computers are supported by an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) that provides 3-axis information on its position.

MSL includes a suite of camera systems, which will be used for a range of functions, including autonomous navigation, hazard avoidance cameras (using pairs of black-and-white cameras mounted at each corner of the rover), a “Mars Hand” camera mounted on the rover’s robotic arm (which has a reach of some 2 metres) capable of taking microscopic images of rock and soil, a “ChemCam” which uses an infra-red laser to vaporise rock and soil samples and then collecting a spectrum of the light emitted.

MSL science instruments and cameras (credit: JPL)

From a public perspective, however, the two most interesting camera systems aboard the rover are liable to be the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) and the MastCam. MARDI will be used during the final moments of MSL’s Martian arrival (dubbed, with good reason, the “seven minutes of terror” – see below). This is designed to start operating when the MSL and its decent unit are some 3.7 km above the surface of Mars and continue through until the vehicle is some 5 metres above the surface. It will take images at 1600×1200 pixel resolution with a 1.3 millisecond exposure time and at a rate of some 5 frame per second.

The MastCam sits (as the name suggests) atop the rover’s mast, some 1.97m above the bottom of the rover’s wheels. This system provides multiple spectra and true color imaging with two cameras. The cameras can take true color images at 1600×1200 pixels and up to 10 frames per second hardware-compressed, high-definition video at 720p (1280×720). As such, it is liable to be images and film from this camera that will capture the imagination of people from around the globe, with the two cameras in the system given between 1.25 and 3.67 higher spatial resolution than the panoramic cameras carried by the MERs when operating at its highest (black and white) resolution of 1024×1024 pixels.

NASA JPL provides a comprehensive overview of the complete science package for those who are interested.

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In memory of Sally Ride

Posted on by Inara Pey

 Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
 And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
 Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
 of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
 You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
 High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
 I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
 My eager craft through footless halls of air….

 Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
 I have topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
 Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
 And, while with silent lifting mind I have trod
 The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
 – Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

(Pilot Officer  John Gillespie Magee, Jr., RCAF)

Sally Ride, 1951-2012
First American female astronaut.
Missions flown: STS-7, 1983; STS-41G, 1984.

 www.sallyridescience.com

Kitely restructures subscriptions, payment options and more

Posted on by Inara Pey

July 17th. Kitely has today announced extensive pricing restructuring which has come about in part as a result of requests from users asking that they be able to spend more time in-world rather than receiving additional Kitely Credits (KCs).

New Subscription Options

Under the new subscription system, monthly KC awards are abolished and in-world times revised. This means the basic Bronze level subscription now provides 30 hours in-world per month (up from 25 under the old system of combining free minutes and awarded KCs), with the Silver plan now providing 120 hours in-world, up from the 100 hours offered under the old minutes + KCs model. With both Bronze and Silver plans, the number of supplied regions remains unchanged (two and 10 respectively).

The old Kitely subscription model (top) and the new (bottom)

The biggest changes are at the top end of the subscription model, with the Platinum plan being completely abolished and the Gold plan reduced in price from $50 a month to $35 a month. Gold does also sees a reduction in the number of offered regions (down from 30 to 20), but Gold plan users now get unlimited time in-world.

The new subscription plan comes into effect for Bronze and Silver subscribers from August 1st, 2012. Gold and Platinum subscribers have the option of continuing with their old plans if they wish, or swapping to the new system.

There is also a small change to the free plan: new users signing-up to this now receive six hours of free in-world time during the month in which they create their account. After this (i,e, at the start of the next month), their free usage reverts to 2 hours a month.

Further pricing Updates

In addition to this:

  • The costs for setting-up and/or storing additional regions (over and above the free allocation of regions within each subscription plan) has now been increased. The one-off cost of establishing an additional world increases from 1KC to 10KC, while  the cost of storing a region similarly rises from 1KC to 10KC per day
  • Users can now buy up to $500 USD of KCs at any one time (up from a maximum of  $50 USD in a single purchase), options rising in $100 USD increments from $100 onwards
  • It is now possible to pay for a subscription plan using Kitely Credits as well as PayPal at the start of each month. Three options are available:
    • Via PayPal: as per the current system
    • Via PayPal, or Kitely Credits whenever possible: providing your account has sufficient Kitely Credits, payment will be made via KCs at a rate of 300 KC per $1. Otherwise, your PayPal account will be billed
    • Using KCs only: this option is only recommended for those who purchase large amounts of Kitely Credits and / or who prefer not to use PayPal for their subscription payments. If there are insufficient KCs in an account when payment is due, the plan risks cancellation (a warning e-mail will be sent out in advance of cancellation).
Setting your preferred subscription payment option

Setting a Price for Visiting Region

Until now, users have only been able to decide whether they pay Kitely for the time others spend visiting their worlds (effectively making the region “free” for visitors), or whether they pass the charge onto visitors. In either case the rate was 1 KC per minute a visitor spent visiting a region.

These options continue unchanged, but as from July 17th, users are able to charge visitors directly for the time they spend in a region; KCs earned can then be used towards subscription plan payments, for example (subject to the notes above). Further, the new functionality allows region holders to pay others for the time they spend visiting the region.

Pricing can be defined in terms of group access and is calculated on the basis of minutes spent visiting the world.

Changing options for visitors to a region

This approach offers a tremendous flexibility of use, including:

  • The ability to charge different amounts on the basis of the group a visitor is in. For example, a RPG region could charge one rate for all members of the associated RPG group and a slightly higher rate for people visiting the region out of curiosity
  • The ability to automatically pay others for visiting your world – the blog post uses the example of paying performers for their time performing in a region
  • The ability to initially have a region set, for example, to free access ahead of an event (allowing people to come and sample it), and then turn on the additional pricing as the event is about to start; users are then presented with an pop-up dialogue asking them to confirm their willingness to pay or to be disconnected from the region if they do not
  • Payment options can be mixed within a single region, so it is possible to charge visitors for their time in the region while also paying performers.

All charges applied to a region are in addition to the basic rate of 1KC per minute. Furthermore, Kitely charge a 10% commission on all Kitely Credits that are earned using these monetization options (i.e. so if you charge 10KC per minute to visitors, you will receive 9KC; if you pay a performer 10KC a minute, they will receive 9KC). This commission  does not apply to any of the other ways users can transfer KC to one another.

Related Links

Cloud Party: island rentals, search and more

Posted on by Inara Pey

As per their promise at the start of the beta, Cloud Party have started offering island for rent.

Two island types have been initially offered, the wording of the FAQ suggesting more may be in the pipeline. These are termed “Private” and “Deluxe” and have the following specs:

Cloud Party islands

Each island comes with its own URL – allowing you to access it directly from any web-browser (logging-in to CP in the process). Currently,  there is no access control for islands – they are open to anyone using the navigation option or who “bubble hops”, although access controls are a promised future feature. This point aside, island rental does give you:

  • “Full” control within the bubble surrounding the island, so you can alter the colour / direction of the light, change the time of day and the look of the sky in general
  • The ability to remove the default island itself and replace it with something you’ve uploaded, such as a space station or “underwater base” or whatever captures your imagination.
  • Build rights, and the ability (as of July 4th) to define who else has build rights on your island (see below for further details).

Additionally, deluxe islands have the option to rework the external mesh of the bubble itself from the default transparent sphere.

The football and the balloon are not objects stuck in the sky – they are actually deluxe islands with exterior meshes

Give the volumes quoted for the islands would appear to refer to the bubbles surrounding them rather than the actual sizes of the islands themselves, it’s hard to get a grip on the physical surface area available with each type of island. However, I’d estimate a private island has a surface area of around 6,000 sq metres and a deluxe at around 190,000 sq metres.

I base both calculations on the maximum circular area available within each sphere (again, taking the quoted sizes of 100 and 500 metres as diameters, rather than radii) and then allowing for a small “gap” between the islands and the sphere boundary and making an allowance for the irregular shape of both islands. The “gap” allowance seems reasonable  given it is possible to “fall off” the edge of an island rather than hitting the sphere boundary  (you get returned to the middle of the sphere if you do, presumably after “hitting” the boundary of the sphere).

Promotional shot of a private island in Cloud Party, with a standard “system” house

Even at 6,000 sq metres, the private island would seem to provide enough room to establish a comfortable home and should suit most personal requirements. The deluxe island appears to be around the same size as the residential islands that were rolled out at the start of the beta, and which offer individual homes available to those with Facebook accounts. As such, they do provide an appreciable amount of space that could be put to a wide variety of uses.

Tree-top view of a deluxe island – not the comparative land area around the house (same model of house) in this image and the one above

Each island type includes a set of quota for building. This is defined in three ways: objects, dynamic objects and triangles. Mesh elements can comprise up to four material faces, each of which itself actually counts as a single “object”. So while it may appear to be a single object, it comprises a material face count (just like an SL linkset comprises prims and sculpts), and it is the material face count that impacts an island’s object quota, not the mesh object itself (just like the objects in a linkset count towards land impact in SL, not the linkset per se).

Displaying information on objects is potentially confusing at present. Right-clicking on an in-world object and displaying an information pop-up for it, for example, only reveals the triangle count. Going to the Build mode, however, does provide counts for triangles, objects and dynamic objects – but also introduces a further category, that of “large objects”. Quite how this relates to the primary object count is unclear, and as I don’t have build rights myself in CP, it is not something I’ve been able to investigate in any real detail.

Build mode showing objects counts for a private island (with thanks to Botgirl Questi)

It’ll be interesting to see how objects and goods are defined when the Cloud Party marketplace is rolled out. From a purely lay perspective, one would suggest that the baseline measure should be “material faces”, as this seems to be the most accurate means of comparing actual content with the object allowances of each island type. However, it is probably fair to say that triangle counts may also be a contender from a technical perspective.

Search and Build Permissions Updates

In introducing the rental islands, CP have also updated the Navigation option of the Cellphone to include a basic search option, allowing you to search for locations either by name or user name.

On July 4th, Cloud Party added the capability for those renting islands to let friends build on their island. This can be enabled via the island information page (Cellphone->Navigation-> Personal Tab->Current Island->Edit Info button). This now includes a Build Permissions: Edit button. Clicking this displays a list of Facebook friends with Cloud Party accounts, and names can be dragged to the FULL ACCESS box. This allows them to build on your island, and they can move / delete anything you have placed on your island. They cannot, however, edit or duplicate objects. Further information on CP’s permissioning system will apparently be announced “Once the marketplace is closer”.

Command Line Options

Something that hasn’t appeared to have been widely covered in blogging about Cloud Party is the availability of command line options. Whether this is because they are a new feature or not, I’ve no idea, but they provide a range of interesting options. Commands can be entered in chat and are preceded by “/”. Entering a single letter after the slash (e.g. “/a”) displays a list of commands starting with that letter. While visiting Claudia222 Jewell I had a play with a few of the commands, including the avatar rescaling, which allows you to instantly alter your avatar’s size (between 1.5 times and 0.5 time the default size).

Playing with avatar heights: Claudia222 at the default avatar size, I scale to 0.5

So rentals are now available within Cloud Party. How popular they prove to be after the initial “curiosity rush” has passed remains to be seen. As others have stated, the platform has a good way to go before it can be considered a serious contender in the VW ring – and I still remain unconvinced on building a platform purely around a land revenue model. I’ll be continuing to watch developments as best I can as they are announced / rolled-out and allowing for the fact there is still – as yet – nothing within Cloud party sufficient enough for me to sign-up with Facebook in any capacity whatsoever.

With thanks to Botgirl Questi.

“We have whole planets to explore…” – A return to SunAeon

Posted on by Inara Pey

In April, I wrote about a new collaborative effort to build an interactive, immersive on-line guide to the Solar System and space exploration called SunAeon. Since then, the team behind the project have been hard at work, added features and capabilities, producing special updates – such as their model charting the recent transit of Venus). Today they launched a further update to the site – and I’m taking a little time out not only to report on it, but also (being totally honest) tooting my own horn a little – as I’ve been able to make a small contribution to the site.

The first notable change on visiting the SunAeon website is that the portal front page has been removed, and that after the familiar tree has been displayed, you’re taken directly to a Solar System view.

The new Solar System display at SunAeon

This now features a number of buttons and controls:

  • Top left:
    • SunAeon: opens a small menu that allows you to display a planet directly on your screen or see the SunAeon team’s biographies or a list of founding members or to visit the SunAeon Facebook page
    • Solar System: clears the SunAeon menu and returns you to the Solar System view
  • Find Planet: Located on the left of the screen, further down from the SunAeon and Solar System buttons, this opens a list of the eight planets of the Solar System (yes, eight planets of the Solar System now that Pluto has been downgraded), allowing you to select the one you wish to explore
  • Top right:
    • Volume: activates / mutes the music stream
    • Full screen: displays SunAeon full screen and sans adverts
    • Settings: opens the settings options, of which more below
  • View Settings: located further down the right side of the screen, this displays sliders allowing you to set the relative size of the model and planets on your screen – the more to the left the sliders are set, the more “real life” the planet sizes and relative distances between them. You can also add orbital paths around the sun and tag the planets with their names
  • Zoom: located bottom right, this allows you to zoom in and out of the model.

You can explore the planets in a number of ways:

  • Via the SunAeon – > Explore Planet list OR by DOUBLE clicking on a planet
    • Either option will zoom you immediately into the planet and display the planet’s information and data page
  • Selecting a planet using the Find Planet button OR by clicking ONCE on a planet:
    • Either option will focus the planet on your screen and circle it
    • Additional buttons will appear alongside the zoom button at the bottom right of your screen
    • An Explore Planet button will be displayed under the Find Planet button
Selecting a planet: additional buttons and options

The additional buttons in the lower right corner of the display allow you to:

  • Additionally focus on / zoom out from the selected planet (left)
  • Zoom in / out on the selected planet (middle)
  • Once zoomed on the planet, you can use the original zoom button (right) to adjust the proximity of your zoom on the planet.
Focused on Venus and zoomed in using the additional controls (bottom centre right) – use the zoom scale to further zoom in as required

Planetary Data Pages

When zoomed-in on a planet, you can click on the Explore Planet option to display the associated information and data (or you can go directly to the page by double-clicking on the planet or via the SunAeon menu, as described above).

This displays some basic information about the planet, in a scrollable window.

Basic planetary information

To the left of the planet are three buttons:

  • The planet button:
    • Click on the planet’s name to display the basic information window or
    • Click the right arrow under the planet’s name to open a list of planets and go directly to its information and data display (clicking the left arrow will close the list)
  • The structure button: click this to display basic information on the planet’s structure and (where relevant) atmosphere (see below)
  • Solar System: click this to return to the Solar System view.
Basic planetary structure information

I was very honoured to be asked by the team to provide the text for both the information and the planetary structure windows, and am very pleased – not to mention proud – that the material I was able to provide has been of use to the team and helped them further develop the site.

Note that when zoomed-in to a planet in the Solar System view, or when displaying the basic information about the planet, you can still rotate it on your screen by click-holding the left mouse button and then moving your mouse. You can also use this method to rotate the entire solar system in your field of view.

Settings Options

The embedded media player

The settings button (top right of the SunAeon display allows you to set the overall quality of the displayed images (very noticeable difference in the Solar System view).

From here you can also access the built-in media player to set the volume for the site’s music and select the track from which you want it to start playing.  The pieces Travis Fitzsimmons produced for earlier models by the team have now been integrated into this model to provide further variety of musical options. You can leave the player open on your screen, or simply select a piece and then close it – the player will cycle through the pieces automatically.

The beautiful shepherded rings of Saturn

Summary

SunAeon continues to grow and add functionality, and as such continued to grow as a learning tool that opens up the Solar System to anyone with a computer (capable of running Flash!). I’m proud to have been asked to contribute to the website, and hope that I’ll be able to further help in its development in the coming months / years.

A high quality, full-screen image from SunAeon – note the dust clouds around the “ices”of the Kuiper belt

* The title for this piece is taken from a piece written by Francis “Dick” Scobee, Commander of STS-51L. The quote reads in full: “We have whole planets to explore, we have new worlds to build, we have a Solar System to roam in. And even if only a tiny fraction of the human race reaches out towards space, the work they do there will totally change the lives of all the billions who remain on Earth.”

Press Release: Daden unveil Oopal – build learning scenarios on the web for use in VWs

Posted on by Inara Pey

Birmingham UK, 27th June 2012: Educators and trainers can now create engaging immersive learning exercises more easily and rapidly using an innovative web-based application called OOPAL, developed by learning and visualisation specialists Daden Limited.

OOPAL (Object Orientated Practice and Learning) lets educators and trainers with little technical knowledge use the web to build 3D sets from an existing library of objects, and create, edit and manage the scenarios and simulations entirely from the web. Only when they’re ready to deploy do they need to enter the 3D virtual world and “push the button” to materialise the sets and exercises ready for students to use. With OOPAL, educators – and even students – can create and maintain worth-while learning experiences without needing to be virtual world experts.

Daden have been creating immersive learning experiences since 2008. Built on the success of their award winning virtual learning authoring software PIVOTE, Daden’s second generation system, OOPAL, makes exercise creation and maintenance significantly simpler – making it easier to involve tutors and even students in the design and build process.

David Burden, Daden’s Managing Director says “We found that the easiest way to describe immersive learning experiences was in terms of a drama – thinking about actors and props, the script and their behaviours rather than abstract concepts like nodes and links – and we’ve designed OOPAL to reflect that – considerably easing the process from exercise design to implementation.”

A key feature of OOPAL is that it allows educators to lay out the 3D environment using a simple 2D “kitchen designer” type layout tool. Drawing from a library of props and virtual actors, educators can assign behaviours to each object – how they will react when touched, pushed, spoken to or approached. Dialogues can even be assigned to the virtual actors for use within the simulation. Users can build just a single room or even a whole environment. What’s more – once they have built their set and simulation they can create multiple copies in their virtual world – again at the touch of a button.

Fundamental to the use of OOPAL, within a professional learning environment, is its ability to log and time-stamp every student interaction within the exercise. This can be reviewed within OOPAL, or exported in whole or part to a VLE or LMS. OOPAL also supports scoring mechanisms for in-exercise feedback.

David says “One of the obstacles in the adoption of immersive environments for learning has been the need for educators to be experts – not in their field of study but in building within virtual worlds. OOPAL dramatically reduces that barrier and gives educators and trainers the tools to create real-world learning experiences for their learners in a 3D environment”.

OOPAL can be accessed as a cloud-hosted service from Daden, or installed on an organisations’ own servers. OOPAL currently enables exercises to be developed in both OpenSim and Second Life. Daden plan to release a version for the Unity3D, and a web/iPad player in the next six months.