Session
Swifty Session 3
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
Kids love space exploration, but they do not necessarily know how rockets and spacecraft actually work. Kids can use space-themed games based on physics to learn more about how metal cylinders full of propellant move and interact in space while still having fun. We talk about our example videos with a focus on kid space fans to help them get started. We use games that are currently available in stable releases, starting first with basic concept 2D games like Simple Rockets, and then to Spaceflight Simulator, which is also 2D. From there, we give examples of progressing to 3D motion and bigger parts in Simple Rockets 2, now known as Juno: New Origins, Kerbal Space Program, and the new release of Kerbal Space Program 2. We will go over how to teach kids about concepts like delta-V and specific impulse.
Our goal is to help kids and teachers progress from simple concepts like suborbital trajectories and getting to orbit, to the more advanced concepts like rocket staging, orbital transfers, rendezvous, landings, and finally, the resource conservation and efficiency needed to make it on interplanetary trips. Our goal is to share these videos with kids old enough to use keyboard controllers or iPhones easily (like grades 3 and up) and share them to the community so that kids can have an easier time on their own, and so that teachers do not have to do as much work making lesson plans and becoming familiar with several types of games at different levels of difficulty. We also include summary material on how teachers can get kids access to free or educational versions of these games. We also include tips and rules-of-thumb, such as using solid rocket boosters for getting off of a surface and out of an atmosphere and getting lots of thrust, when to do gravity turns, using different kinds of engines for atmospheric pressures versus in the vacuum of space, the importance of orbital inclination, understanding which shapes are aerodynamic and which will burn up fast, and why gravity assists will save you thousands of meters per second of delta-V. We hope that by having this series of videos that get harder as you go through them, kids will be able to see their improvement as they go. We hope more kids use these tools to become interested in aerospace and develop a good sense for how rockets and spacecraft work so they can grow up to become professional aerospace engineers and help our country and society explore space.
SSC23-S3-13 Presentation
Using Space Games like SimpleRockets, Spaceflight Simulator, and Kerbal Space Program to Teach Kids Orbital Mechanics
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Kids love space exploration, but they do not necessarily know how rockets and spacecraft actually work. Kids can use space-themed games based on physics to learn more about how metal cylinders full of propellant move and interact in space while still having fun. We talk about our example videos with a focus on kid space fans to help them get started. We use games that are currently available in stable releases, starting first with basic concept 2D games like Simple Rockets, and then to Spaceflight Simulator, which is also 2D. From there, we give examples of progressing to 3D motion and bigger parts in Simple Rockets 2, now known as Juno: New Origins, Kerbal Space Program, and the new release of Kerbal Space Program 2. We will go over how to teach kids about concepts like delta-V and specific impulse.
Our goal is to help kids and teachers progress from simple concepts like suborbital trajectories and getting to orbit, to the more advanced concepts like rocket staging, orbital transfers, rendezvous, landings, and finally, the resource conservation and efficiency needed to make it on interplanetary trips. Our goal is to share these videos with kids old enough to use keyboard controllers or iPhones easily (like grades 3 and up) and share them to the community so that kids can have an easier time on their own, and so that teachers do not have to do as much work making lesson plans and becoming familiar with several types of games at different levels of difficulty. We also include summary material on how teachers can get kids access to free or educational versions of these games. We also include tips and rules-of-thumb, such as using solid rocket boosters for getting off of a surface and out of an atmosphere and getting lots of thrust, when to do gravity turns, using different kinds of engines for atmospheric pressures versus in the vacuum of space, the importance of orbital inclination, understanding which shapes are aerodynamic and which will burn up fast, and why gravity assists will save you thousands of meters per second of delta-V. We hope that by having this series of videos that get harder as you go through them, kids will be able to see their improvement as they go. We hope more kids use these tools to become interested in aerospace and develop a good sense for how rockets and spacecraft work so they can grow up to become professional aerospace engineers and help our country and society explore space.
