I’m standing so close to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa2 asteroid lander that I could reach out and touch it. But instead, I jump onto it. I strike a pose. As I jump off, I float for a moment in the low air. gravity Before you gently touch the surface of Ryugu, a rugged gray world devoid of life and color.
“I”” In this situation, my avatar, a digital approximation of myself, has a more consistent beard length and is not constantly rubbing her eyes from sleep. The Hayabusa 2 spacecraft I am standing on, asteroid Below, there are also digital avatars, recreated in Virtual Reality.
The VR experience I had was part of the 2024 Australian Astronomical Society Annual Scientific Meeting, where the nation’s astronomers gather to present new research, share results and socialize. This year’s meeting, in June, was almost entirely online, taking advantage of the platform my place To provide attendees with virtual access to the conference.
A digital venue comprising poster exhibition halls, exhibition halls, meeting rooms and a lecture theatre was built by The future of meetingsan international collaboration working to make meetings more sustainable and accessible.
Related: Asteroid Ryugu holds secrets of our solar system’s past, present and future
I was initially a bit hesitant about attending the conference in VR. I’m a VR skeptic, having worked as a video game journalist and seen the hype surrounding the technology. But as someone who has lived in space and stood on top of a dirt mound in Coober Pedy, Australia, as a virtual reality specimen, it was a great experience to witness. Ryugu He ran back to Land In 2020, I would also describe myself as: So excited to be standing on an asteroid!.
So, during the conference, I turned on Spatial, and my avatar passed through the exhibit hall and entered through a portal to Ryugu and the spacecraft that visited it in 2018. It felt like I was playing Super Mario 64 He jumped through the picture.
Immediately, it landed on the surface of the asteroid. The Ryugu model was created by Omniscopea startup founded by astronomer Sasha Korov to create virtual worlds for science outreach, using real images captured by Hayabusa 2It’s not a perfect replica but it certainly encapsulates the area around the spacecraft’s landing zone – the dark plain that provided Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has a place to land and grab materials in 2019.
Elizabeth Tasker, Professor at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency The agency’s communications team member noted that it was difficult to determine whether Ryugu’s topology was suitable for measurement. However, she said that Hayabusa2 models, as well as the lander and rovers, were suitable for measurement.
There’s not much to do in Ryugu World except admire the space, but that’s the point. This isn’t a video game. It’s a tool. Especially in space In today’s world, with planetary science, the appeal is clear: using real-world data and observations, we can visit places we would never be able to physically reach.
Tasker toured the exhibit at Spatial during the American Astronautical Society meeting, pointing out certain aspects of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft — features that wouldn’t be so easy to present on a PowerPoint slide. The 3D digital model provides a way to get up close and personal with the spacecraft and examine fine details, such as where target markers are stored and the small portable instrument during operation.
But Ryugu’s surface isn’t a perfect asteroid, and you can’t walk from one side to the other.
“I mentioned at the end of the tour that it is possible (and very easy in a low-gravity environment) to escape the end of the asteroid scene and fall into space,” Tasker said. “This was supposed to serve as a warning, but it immediately resulted in at least one (hypothetically) death! Fortunately, after falling for a short time, at least one person survived.” time“I was reborn on the surface of the asteroid.”
When you stand on the surface of an asteroid in virtual reality, something happens in your brain that makes the experience unforgettable. I’ve written more words about Ryugu’s surface, its chemistry, and its importance in planetary science than most people, but being able to stand on it, even digitally, provided a real “Oh My God” moment—an appreciation for the difficulty of landing on a tiny rock floating millions of miles from Earth.
Of course, when I was done, I jumped off the edge.
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