In our ever-expanding metaverse, where we spend our time trading virtual assets and exploring fantastical realms as legless avatars, it may come as a surprise that astronauts from NASA and SpaceX are utilizing this digital realm to prepare for life on a lunar space station that has yet to be constructed.
According to NASA, the first pioneers to venture into deep space will be the team assigned to operate the upcoming space station known as “Gateway.” In a recent blog post, NASA described Gateway as an advanced laboratory, a solar-powered spacecraft, and a home away from home for international astronauts.
Traditionally, astronauts have trained for new missions using physical and computer simulators. However, the emergence of modern virtual reality headsets and cutting-edge spatial computing technologies now allows those destined for deep space to develop the necessary skills to navigate and survive in a fully immersive 3D environment.
Gateway, as the United States proclaims, will make its debut beyond Earth no earlier than 2025, once its crucial power and propulsion systems are established in lunar orbit. But its ambitions extend far beyond our planet. NASA envisions Gateway as a crucial outpost in the Artemis program, an initiative aimed at constructing a crewed lunar base as the next milestone in humanity’s journey to place a human on Mars.
The astronauts entrusted with the maintenance and operation of Gateway face an extraordinary challenge. They will become the first crew of an orbital space station to live and work in the depths of space, at a maximum distance of approximately 386,243 kilometers from Earth. To put this into perspective, the astronauts aboard the International Space Station, which was launched in 1998, operate at an average distance of about 400 kilometers from our planet.
It is clear that the utilization of the metaverse and virtual reality technologies is revolutionizing the way astronauts prepare for their missions. As we look to the future, it is awe-inspiring to imagine the possibilities that lie ahead for humanity’s exploration of deep space.