A new toy for the International Space Station

This summer astronauts from the International Space Station will have in their hands a new toy, which is probably the most sophisticated joystick created to date. With good joystick tied around her waist, astronauts will face one of the most challenging missions to date in the station: throw a little game in low gravity.

It seems a joke, but it is literal. The European Space Agency wants astronauts collect data handling device ... With some basic games Pong type. You really had to resort to games 30 years ago? Could not they bring them a decent simulator? Or, at least, the Space Invaders?

The future of Super Joystick, however, is somewhat brighter. The idea is that the toy comes a little further, when humans actually start trying to conquer the universe. The command will serve to control robots, for example, go over the surface of Mars, while the astronauts remain in orbit the planet. Joystick is expected to provide greater and direct interaction with surface robots.

Of course handle a joystick in low gravity or zero gravity is not without problems. Hence, to begin with, the device has a complicated system to tie at the waist. In addition, developers have had to provide the device with technologies to provide the user a feeling of response capable of overcoming the limitations of the environment.

The idea is that feelings of joystick faithfully replicate the actions of future robots that are under the command of astronauts to provide the greatest possible accuracy to your movements in the alien surfaces. Land usage data of the games that will be used this summer to check the handling capacity provided by the control in space are analyzed.

ESA also wants to check the operation of the system with the lowest astronauts motor control which will eventually human exposure to low gravity. Long distance travel will be much more demanding in this sense that the time periods remaining astronauts on the station, but is currently the largest reference you can have.

As indicated in the report of the Agency will be the first time you put into orbit a device developed by Metreon (Multi-Purpose End-to-End Robotic Operation Network), whose main objective is the investigation of the tele-robotics in space. A collaboration between various NASA centers, the German space agency DLR or Roscosmos, the R & D Institute of Robotics and Technical Cybernetic St. Petersburg Russian space company and Energy.

I was not out of my head ... So many agencies, so many minds thinking ... And going to play Pong? Really?

If you want to cultivate your kids’ interest in space knowledge, you also could purchase the international space station toy. It is helpful and vividly.

By the way, if you wanna seek some of the educational toys for your kids, you also could choose human skeleton toy, enlighten brick, etc. Both of them are pretty good and your kids will like them.