A new virtual reality software program will allow users to experience the excitement of standing on the launch pad beneath NASA’s massive new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) and see the breathtaking visual of the rocket bursting through clouds. The software is available for anyone with an Oculus Rift to download for free in the Oculus store.
The software focuses on the SLS as it sits on the mobile launcher prior to lift-off from Kennedy Space Center. Through virtual reality, people will be able to experience the scale of SLS — looking up to see to the top of the rocket, straight ahead to see the details of the solid rocket boosters and engines or from above to take in an aerial view of the launch pad. Those using the software can explore the rocket from the ground and fully grasp its massive scale before sitting in the cockpit during pre-launch activities to see what it’s like to be an astronaut inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
The inaugural flight of SLS, Exploration Mission-1, will send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft 40,000 miles beyond the moon and back to Earth over three weeks.”
Media Fusion, a support services company based in Huntsville, produced the software in conjunction with NASA.