Free space and astronomy apps from
the Space Science Institute
the Space Science Institute
Solar Vision
Ready for the 2017 Eclipse? This app lets you explore real time sun images downloaded from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Look for sunspots, and compare the images in different wavelengths. Plus there's an interactive preview of the 2017 solar eclipse: try to find the "diamond ring", and see what planets might be visible during totality.
Star Maze
Light can take tens of thousands of years to get from the fusion core of a star to its surface. Can you do better? Steer the photon through the maze, collect letters, and build a phrase to help you escape. The game includes twenty seven different mazes corresponding to stars ranging from red dwarfs to blue supergiants!
For teachers: Star Maze can be used as an educational game to supplement classroom discussions on the sun, stars, and astronomy. The hint phrases borrow from both the Benchmarks For Science Literacy and NASA SMD's Heliophysics Concept Map. Development was supported through grants by the National Science Foundation.
Rubble!
Asteroids can be single rocks, or clumps of smaller rocks held together by their mutual gravity. And a bunch of them are headed towards Earth! Your job: use bombs and impactors to deflect them away from Earth before time runs out. Humanity is depending on you! And remember: those movies where they just blow up the asteroid and the pieces don't matter? That doesn't actually work.
This is a simple, one level game built on the Box2D physics engine. Individual asteroids are attracted to each other by their mutual gravity in a physically consistent way.
For teachers: Rubble! can be used as an educational game to supplement classroom discussions on asteroids, comets, Earth impacts, and gravity as a universal force. Development was supported through grants by the National Science Foundation and NASA.
Planet Families
This interactive was originally created for the Alien Earths exhibit (www.alienearths.org). Using a real physics model, it allows players to build their own solar system, and then watch as their planets and stars interact. It even includes asteroids and comets.