MoonWorld Paper Presented at Lunar Conference
Tue Apr 6 2010
Dr. Chuck Wood, director of the Center for Educational Technologies, presented "MoonWorld: Implementation of Virtual Lunar Exploration" at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, TX, March 1-5.
The paper was coauthored by Dr. Debbie Denise Reese, Dr. Laurie Ruberg, Andrew Harrison, and Cassie Lightfritz of the Center for Educational Technologies, along with Avatrian, the software developer working on the MoonWorld project.
The NASA-funded MoonWorld is an island in the Second Life virtual world. It provides a way for mission planners, educators, and students to gain an authentic experience of working on the Moon. This virtual simulation immerses participants in a realistic geologic environment with 1/6th g and limited life support. Participants through their avatars conduct field operations and practice authentic scientific inquiry.
