Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft, NASA Allow For 3D Shuttle View
C|Net reports that a 3D software version of the space shuttle Endeavor is in the works, thanks to a collaboration project between Microsoft and NASA. The Photosynth viewer will allow fans of the space program an unprecedented level of detail in examining the shuttle and its surrounds at the Kennedy Space Center. ""It's much like a 3D video game--people can explore, walk around or fly around the shuttle," said Adam Sheppard, group product manager for Microsoft Live Labs, which developed the viewer. NASA said that the project could lead to more initiatives with the software giant. Chris Kemp, director of strategic business development at NASA's Ames Research Center, said that, for example, NASA could use the Photosynth technology on future space missions for activities such as inspecting the International Space Station and viewing landing sites on the moon."
This sounds really neat. Have to try it and explore. Have anyone here tried it already?
:(){
I think they should include a 3D representation of what they inside of the shuttle looks like after a few drinks. Sort of a 'before and after' kind of thing.
Nah, they should nationalize Microsoft. That would fix the deficit.
It's British English "Endeavour", not American English "Endeavor".
Because the British used to be good explorers, once.
Will this suffer the same fate as the Saturn V plans? http://science.slashdot.org/science/07/07/30/02152 04.shtml
As I understand it (I'm a Brit so may not be quite correct) NASA, as a Federal Government entity, are under some sort of mandate that their creations must be released into the Public Domain.
Does this extend to third parties working for and on behalf of NASA?
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
Need another software application
On the other hand, they are giving us "an unprecedented level of detail in examining the shuttle".
I'm confused.
Mine's a pint, chaps.
I also highly encourage everyone to actually GO to Kennedy Space Center. The have a lot of exhibits including a Saturn V rocket that's on it's side, indoors. It's only an hour's drive from Orlando and is a great way to spend a day. Unfortunately the tour of KSC doesn't allow you into the Vehicle Assembly Building.
$7.95/mo, 200 GB disk, 2TBxfer, MySQL, PHP, RoR.
Corporate party contributions / bribery / payola would then fix the national deficit, instead of acting against the interest of the people.
Or blow it up by flipping some wrong switch...
Well, as it requires Windows to run (at this time, I'm sure they'll extend it to other platforms real soon) then I'll just have to wait...
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, if the women don't get you the whiskey must
Another proprietary soft from M$, if I recall, NASA is a gov. agency, then why chose a proprietary software when there is universal alternative? I guess MS Loby is quite strong in Washington!
No, if you want to reduce the deficit pull out of Irak, When Bush took over America was not in deficit.
Remember the fly around stuff the XFL used? They had a ton of cameras stationed around the stadium and then used software to fill in the gaps. It was one of the cool things that came out of that abomination. On playback, they would fly around the scene and you could get a better idea of what the QB or receiver sees.
Now that they are bringing the technology to the home user this could be really cool, being in control of the fly around.
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
so, they tell their engineers 'no', when the engineers want to have a satellite look at the shuttle to see if the tiles have been damaged by foam impacts from the launch procedure.
nasa says no. part of the reason im sure is that it was too expensive.
but, yeah, you can have a whole IMAGINARY shuttle. no telling how much this software project cost, but im wondering how much it was, compared to say, you know, listening to your goddamn fucking engineers when they say people's lives are in danger.
Go forth and multiply (Microsoft's bandwidth bill).
So, putting obsolete vague drawings of Saturn V on the wall will get you into trouble (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/ 30/0215204) but having a detailed view of the current launch vehicle of NASA will not?
I say again: Americans are just plain stupid.
Unexpected error occured while executing "deploy landing-gear".
(here goes blue screen)
Press space to close application. Warning: All data may be lost. Try to land and launch again, err, restart the application.
If you are still experiencing problems, contact your administrator.
Have a nice day!
Another PR stunt coming out of an engineering boondoggle that has tied up US (and human) spaceflight for 30 years. Might as well have made it look like a giant cricket. Let's make a space truck that looks like a plane and can only possibly go a few miles above the planet, like driving from here to Jersey but with a serious hazard of blowing up. Yes I want the 3D model of this on my desktop to remind me that people take pride in failure.
Real science is done on rockets. Politicians and bureaucrats should be kept arms length from science and engineering. NASA needs to forget the shuttle.
"I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots." George HW Bush
Actually, I seem to remember playing some space shuttle sim in the 90's. Can't remember the name for the life of me, though.
IIRC you had to flip buttons until you got RSI just to lift-off, and landing was a bit like trying to fly a brick. I mean, in most flight sims you come almost horizontal at the runway, while this thing... well, let's just say that it seemed like the difference between landing it and free fall seemed mostly semantics.
The experience was almost invariably along the lines of "damn, this is coming too fast... oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, looks like I'll miss the runway... yep, I was right." Guess I'm like a gaming jedi at times. I know a few moments in advance what will happen. In this case, as soon as I saw the runway, I just knew I'll plough into the ground next to it. "Next" meaning in the next state.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Microsoft and NASA on the same line? I wonder if this is going to take off!!
Is this going to be like a MS Flight Simulator NASA Edition? That would be pretty cool. It would be really neat to have the ability to perform modern and historical space missions. Docking with ISS, repairing Hubble, landing on the Moon. "I could drive on the Moon in my Lunar Rover." - obligatory Brian Regan reference
Another NASA project that is windows only. Like World Wind, but that is going to be released in Java "real soon now".
Shouldn't there be some sort of law that says all government projects like this must be cross platform and open-source?
In recent years MicroSoft labs (inluding UK and Beijing) have been co-authors on 20% of the papers. Thats pretty spectacular considering the conference has 90% paper rejection rate. Theyve talked about their photo-reconstruction R&D a couple times there. To me the main disappointment has been the lack of technology to mainstream MicroSoft computer products. Occasionally they've spunoff some of these results to startups.
MicroSoft has had one of the ten largest industrial research labs in the world. Some people have accused it being a tax writeoff. They are sort of like Bell Labs and Xerox PARC in not commercializing alot of results and less like IBM and GE who are more successful. Many of MSFT's publiched results are linked on their website.
Automated 3D scene reconstruction software has been an active topic at the SIGGRAPH meeting (occuring in San Diego this week) for a decade. The object is to be able to move a camera(s) through a space such as a city block or building hallway, snap hundreds of pictures, then reconstruct the 3D shape and surface textures in real time. Google's "Street View" is an early application of this technology. I've seen one group promote this for insurance companies and superintendents to walk thorugh a building and inventory the architcture and contents automatically. Then they can turn this into an interative walk through along any path. Its spectacular when they zoom out and you see a multi-story office building as giant 3D twisty maze ...
I love how the guy from NASA boasts that no tax payer dollars were used to bring this to the public. Um, let's see, it's a Windows only application. I'd say my Microsoft tax is being well spent!!
this is really great. I am no big fan of microsoft, but credit where credit is due. A game that lets me explore a world which otherwise only very few people can experience in real life, that's awsome.
... oh never mind.
kudos.
-S
PS: on an afterthought this might suck as much as Flight Simulator X
NASA, you're a government agency. Why are you leaving millions of citizens out in the cold?
And by the way, it's "Endeavour". The orbiter is named for Capt. Cook's ship. Cook was British.
i am a soviet space shuttle
The Photosynth viewer will allow fans of the space program an unprecedented level of detail in examining the shuttle and its surrounds at the Kennedy Space Center.
Until some low level political appointee flunky finds about it and kills the project because the nasty people might use it to plan something bad...thus reinforcing the belief among our young people that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and that a career in business is both higher paying and politically more reliable than having some forbidden knowledge about how the space shuttle works because then they might be able to build their own backyard ICBM...oh noes!
You know after reading all the whining and bad MS jokes? I hope they keep the technology on the Windows platform. This crowd doesn't deserve the good stuff.
Instead of this crap.
Technology -- No Place For Wimps! Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Chatroom -- http://www.wemissjerry.org
There is a lot of whining on this site about this not being multi-platform. NASA wasting tons of money. Blah blah blah blah. All NASA had to do was provide Microsoft with several thousand photos from their archive.
That was it. Nothing more. It's not like NASA invested years of research and personal developing some project which only runs on windows... that was the Microsoft Half of the equation and shock and amaze it only runs on windows for now.
Since a vast majority of the US population is on Windows this does provide a valuable educational resource to the US Tax Paying Population at the expense of putting a few thousand photos on a portable hard drive and mailing it to Redmond.
So quit yo' belly aching!
http://trowley.org/ maintains a link to all SIGGRAPH papers which have been posted online. ACM, if you are member, has similar.
. if you want to see the only 3-D Space Shuttle image (and three more about Space) available on the web (to see with red-blue glasses) go here: http://www.gaetanomarano.it/articles/002shuttle3D. html
.
http://www.ghostnasa.com/ http://www.gaetanomarano.it/articles/articles.htm