Solar System.
NASA Unveils 'Mars Rover Landing' Game for Xbox Kinect
Jet Propulsion Laboratory https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ July 20, 2012
Danielle Roosa, granddaughter of Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa, demonstrates NASA and Microsoft's free Kinect interactive Xbox video game, "Mars Rover Landing." The new game lets players try their skill at landing the Curiosity rover on Mars. The game is available free of charge in the Xbox Live Marketplace and Kinect Central.
Transcript
Doug McCuistion: Turn this over to Jeff Norris to explain this and describe it...Jeff.
Jeff Norris: Thank you Doug, I'm very excited to announce a ground breaking partnership between NASA,
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Microsoft to inspire the next generation of explorers
and scientists and technologists.
Mars rover landing is the agency's first experience for a home entertainment console
and through it we're bringing some of the excitement
and a few of the challenges of landing Curiosity on Mars to living rooms around the world.
As we're demonstrating live here today people take control of their very own spacecraft using the kinect
and move their body to steer the rover through the stages of entry, descent and landing.
Right now, Danielle is playing the first phase of the game she's doing her best to burn off some speed
while staying on target and inside the entry corridor.
In the next phase she'll have to react quickly in order to deploy the parachute
separate the heat shield and then release the descent stage at the perfect moment.
It's not easy, but we think families are going to enjoy facing the challenges of landing on Mars first hand.
By the way, I'll mention that Danielle is the granddaughter of Apollo 14 astronaut,
Stuart Roosa and quite literally an example of the next generation of explorers.
We'll check back in just a moment to see how her landing is progressing.
The Mars Rover Landing game is free and available now on Xbox live marketplace.
We have demonstration systems set up here at NASA Headquarters
and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for you all to try out, first hand.
It's exciting, challenging and a whole lot of fun.
Doug mentioned many ways that people can watch Curiosity's landing and get involved with the mission.
And our mutual commitment to inspiring the next generation in science and math,
NASA and Microsoft will also soon unveil a special destination on the Xbox live dashboard
dedicated to the Curiosity mission.
In it, people will find pictures, videos and more facts about the mission.
And then on August 5th NASA TV's live coverage of Curiosity's landing will be broadcast there too.
Also coming soon is an educational experience based on Microsoft coding
in which students can program their very own Mars rover and make discoveries of their own.
Let check back in with Danielle.
She's finishing up the second stage of the experience now.
She's deployed the descent stage and in the third phase she's going to have to perform the sky crane maneuver
and then carefully manage the retro rockets in order to bring Curiosity down for a safe landing.
This is a tricky balancing act and we didn't give her a lot of fuel...so lets give her a minute to concentrate and see if she can land successfully.
Voice: We have rover separation.
Voice: We have touch down on Mars.
Voice: We have a rover in Gale Crater.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Jeff Norris: Thank you Doug, I'm very excited to announce a ground breaking partnership between NASA,
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Microsoft to inspire the next generation of explorers
and scientists and technologists.
Mars rover landing is the agency's first experience for a home entertainment console
and through it we're bringing some of the excitement
and a few of the challenges of landing Curiosity on Mars to living rooms around the world.
As we're demonstrating live here today people take control of their very own spacecraft using the kinect
and move their body to steer the rover through the stages of entry, descent and landing.
Right now, Danielle is playing the first phase of the game she's doing her best to burn off some speed
while staying on target and inside the entry corridor.
In the next phase she'll have to react quickly in order to deploy the parachute
separate the heat shield and then release the descent stage at the perfect moment.
It's not easy, but we think families are going to enjoy facing the challenges of landing on Mars first hand.
By the way, I'll mention that Danielle is the granddaughter of Apollo 14 astronaut,
Stuart Roosa and quite literally an example of the next generation of explorers.
We'll check back in just a moment to see how her landing is progressing.
The Mars Rover Landing game is free and available now on Xbox live marketplace.
We have demonstration systems set up here at NASA Headquarters
and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for you all to try out, first hand.
It's exciting, challenging and a whole lot of fun.
Doug mentioned many ways that people can watch Curiosity's landing and get involved with the mission.
And our mutual commitment to inspiring the next generation in science and math,
NASA and Microsoft will also soon unveil a special destination on the Xbox live dashboard
dedicated to the Curiosity mission.
In it, people will find pictures, videos and more facts about the mission.
And then on August 5th NASA TV's live coverage of Curiosity's landing will be broadcast there too.
Also coming soon is an educational experience based on Microsoft coding
in which students can program their very own Mars rover and make discoveries of their own.
Let check back in with Danielle.
She's finishing up the second stage of the experience now.
She's deployed the descent stage and in the third phase she's going to have to perform the sky crane maneuver
and then carefully manage the retro rockets in order to bring Curiosity down for a safe landing.
This is a tricky balancing act and we didn't give her a lot of fuel...so lets give her a minute to concentrate and see if she can land successfully.
Voice: We have rover separation.
Voice: We have touch down on Mars.
Voice: We have a rover in Gale Crater.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology