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Elon
(sh.itjust.works)
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this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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Hey.
I love doing fully realistic space flight simulators in virtual reality -- programs that run at 18-30 FPS from the sheer computational load of doing physics calculations and accurate particle collisions of light, gas flow exchanges, liquids , and such in real time.
I'm nuts and the idea of being alone on a desolate planet in a space suit is highly relaxing for me:
I did the "solo" Mars scenario.
Even with the ability to quick save and load, and manipulate the environmental conditions to be completely in my favor (best possible landing spot, best weather, optimal genetic splicing and variation for plants), I died.
Everyone who goes to Mars -- is going to die.
The moon is a different story, and a testing grounds to see if humanity has what it takes.
Recently, they cancelled an unmanned rover whose sole purpose was to go look at some moon ice, due to budget cuts.
That should give you a sense of our overall preparation level for Mars.
Astrophysicists do have quick save and load. They run a bajillion simulations, calculations, and scenarios before they ever touch a single bolt. You're not doing that in your game, nor is it likely that you're an astrophysicist. Some of the most highly competent people in the world work on these projects, and they plan for decades before they launch a mission. Yes, shit happens, but the chances are pretty high that they already accounted for any shit that could happen.
We successfully sent people to the moon and back when the most powerful computers in the world filled an entire room, and were literally millions of times less powerful than the phone I'm writing this on. Material science and manufacturing processes are also considerably more advanced now.
Putting a person on Mars will certainly be a daunting challenge, but I don't think it's one that is insurmountable. The biggest challenge is the fact that they operate on shoestring budgets compared to other major industries. Musk won't have anything to do with the actual real planning of a Mars mission. As a matter of fact, Space X has an entire department that is dedicated to keeping him away from projects.
PS: what's that game called? I want to play it!
It's:
Take on Mars (VorpX) And Occupy Mars (Unreal Engine VR Hooks Mod)
They are both quite buggy and made by tiny teams because spaceflight/exoplanet simulation is a niche genre (See: No Man's Sky for an example of a popular arcade-like simulator)
I'd offer you some tips on how to approach your first Mars mission, but given that I'm likely not an astrophysicist, I'll let you figure that part out on your own :P
Haha! Thanks for the recommendations. I'm definitely going to check those out.
Didn't they "lose" the documentation of the moon landing, and that's why we can't go back atm? Like 60 years later we still couldn't retro engineer it?
The physics calculations aren't what makes it run at 30fps; it's more the graphic rendering. Physics are easy to do. Making them look nice isn't.
What?
Physics calculations are renowned for using simplifications to approximate results.
That doesn't work for space. One cannot assume an object is a perfect sphere experiencing no friction and have any hope of success. And that's just the first of many forces that are dropped to make the math easy.
Didn't we all do the solo mars mission during covid?
Mars Virgin cant even Matt Damon into space.
lol