Virtual and Augmented Reality For Astronaut Training

How NASA is Using Virtual and Augmented Reality to Train Astronauts

Unimersiv.Com | December 22, 2015

Virtual reality is no longer a thing of the future – it is progressively permeating through every niche of the society. Whether it is education, law enforcement or just recreational activities, we are finding more and more uses of stepping into an engineered world. So, it comes as no surprise that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is extensively employing virtual reality to better acclimatize its astronauts to conditions they will experience once they step across the Earth’s boundaries. Here we take a look at a brief overview of this development.

NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, Expedition 29 flight engineer and Expedition 30 commander, uses virtual reality hardware in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center to rehearse some of his duties on the upcoming mission to the International Space Station. This type of virtual reality training allows the astronauts to wear a helmet and special gloves while looking at computer displays simulating actual movements around the various locations on the station hardware with which they will be working. Crew instructor Jeff Hoblit assisted Burbank. Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/gallery/jsc2011e056596.html

<more at http://trendwave.com/nasa/how-nasa-is-using-virtual-and-augmented-reality-to-train-astronauts; related links: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/gallery/jsc2011e056596.html (Virtual Reality Training. June 17, 2011) and http://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-nasa-uses-virtual-reality-to-train-astronauts/ (How NASA uses virtual reality to train astronauts. NASA's Evelyn Miralles told a crowd at the Silicon Valley Virtual Reality conference about the role virtual reality plays in astronaut training. May 19, 2015)>