Last year I began fiddling around with a program called A-OK! The Wings of Mercury, a computer program written by Joe Nastasi that completely simulates a Mercury space mission from the 1960s. Nastasi realized that today’s computers are sufficiently advanced that they can replicate not only the interior of a Mercury capsule and simulate its flight in video-game quality detail, they can also simulate the entire Mission Control Center.
A restricted-feature version is available for download. Paying the registration fee gets you a code to enable the missing features, which include networking a room full of Macs together as a mission control center.
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Installation is straightforward. The program runs on both OS 9 and OS X. System requirements are fairly moderate – you need a G3 (333 MHz for OS 9, 600 MHz for OS X, OS X 10.7 and newer not supported) and you must have a video card that handles QuickTime RAVE (OS 9) or OpenGL (OS X).
I’ve run the program on both OSes, and it works identically. A faster processor helps, but it ran reasonably well on a 300 MHz Beige Power Mac G3 tower – well enough for me to use it as my primary machine for the simulation at school. Even though it was a bit under the recommended requirements on the website, it ran well.
On a 1 GHz TiBook it was extremely smooth in animation, although there was a small problem with the 3D rendering leaving an artifact above the rocket in flight when your point of view was below the plane of the rocket (from underneath, the screen shows a vertical bar above the rocket).
Aside from that, the program runs great, the documentation is excellent (although I have some suggestions noted below), and the simulation is fun. If you have the slightest interest in the history of space flight, simulation, applied physics, or rocketry, you will love this program. Try it out, pay for it, use it. We purchased the site license from some grant funds we used to develop curriculum for our space academy courses.
The program essentially recreates the interior of a Mercury space capsule, down to the last switch. Just to give you a comparison, here is a screen shot of the primary control panel.
For comparison, here is a screen shot of a Mercury capsule mockup exhibited at the Chabot Space center in Oakland, California this month:
Can you spot the missing indicator instrument? My students have to describe the differences between these two pictures as part of an assignment.
The question that remains for me as an educator is what do you do with this software? Do you just turn kids loose on it or do something organized?
If you run the simulator as is, there’s not a lot for students sitting at the Mission Control Center consoles to do. That’s not a flaw in the program; it’s just the nature of working at Mission Control.
Your job at Mission Control in this simulation, if you were to do the job right, would be to call for holds as necessary before launch; abort if conditions warrant; report on values of such things as fuel supply and blood pressure according to your schedule or if asked.
Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, solves this problem by carefully scripting a launch. When you attend Space Camp (and they have versions for teachers, adults, and whole families) you get a binder with step-by-step instructions and words to read for each person. There’s not much decision-making involved, but then you only get a couple of days to prepare for the simulated mission.
A-OK could benefit from a scripted manual for beginners that not only tells what buttons to push but what to say along the way.
Here is what my classes did this year, because I did not have time to write such a scripted manual.
First, I ran the simulator in automatic mode for a sub-orbital flight. As the program displayed on my projector screen, I talked students through the terms on a vocabulary puzzle I provided for them. They learned BECO (Booster Engine Cut Off), the name of the first American in space (Alan Shepherd), and the name of the base of the capsule (the heat shield).
After that, I gave them a packet that asked them to fill in the steps of a launch according to the timeline provided in the program’s help files, estimate the model rocket engine code that a Mercury Redstone would be rated, and guess what stations are which in a photograph of Mercury Mission Control based on the Mission Control Center simulator.
While most of the class worked on the packets, I had volunteers attempt to run through the simulation manually. That worked well, although there were a few buttons and switches that we couldn’t find or were not labeled as they appeared in the checklist (oddly enough, we could not find the Abort Handle in step one), and twice students pulled out the oxygen snorkel while trying to see if it was in the proper position during a countdown – and then discovered it wouldn’t go back in.
Eventually I changed the setup to give a little more realism by connecting an old joystick to the computer for maneuvering thruster control (which worked once I got the settings figured out for my stick – they were conflicting with the mouse when the Finder was running).
I installed two extra video cards in the PCI slots of the Beige G3 and ran three monitors – one for the astronaut, one with the clock (for me), and one with the external view and view through the window (for the class). Performance took a hit, but not so much that we couldn’t enjoy the simulation. And this was on a machine below the minimum system requirements. Pretty impressive for a REALbasic application.
I learned enough this year that we may take things a step further next year and hold astronaut applications and plan a mission from start to finish (I’ll supply the freeze-dried astronaut ice cream for the in-flight snack).
We could have done a little more with it if I had started earlier. There’s a lot of physics and math buried in here – projectile motion, Newton’s Laws, orbital mechanics, ellipses, speed-distance-time problems, logistics, nutrition, and more.
Overall, I think this is a great package and plan to use it in the future. Even though it didn’t quite capture the attention of that girl in the back who just talks constantly and does makeup when she’s not talking, everyone else enjoyed it (especially when we crashed).
Keywords: #spaceflight #spaceflightsimulator #simulation #mercury #maclabreport
Short link: http://goo.gl/UJwLXf
searchword: spaceflight
Optimized Storage helps you save storage space space by storing your content in iCloud and making it available on demand:
- When storage space is needed, files, photos, movies, email attachments, and other files that you seldom use are stored in iCloud automatically.
- Each file stays right where you last saved it, and downloads when you open it.
- Files that you’ve used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimized versions of your photos.
If you haven't yet upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, learn about other ways to free up storage space.
Find out how much storage is available on your Mac
Choose Apple menu > About This Mac, then click Storage. Each segment of the bar is an estimate of the storage space used by a category of files. Move your pointer over each segment for more detail.
Click the Manage button to open the Storage Management window, pictured below.
Manage storage on your Mac
The Storage Management window offers recommendations for optimizing your storage. If some recommendations are already turned on, you will see fewer recommendations.
Store in iCloud
Click the Store in iCloud button, then choose from these options:
- Desktop and Documents. Store all files from these two locations in iCloud Drive. When storage space is needed, only the files you recently opened are kept on your Mac, so that you can easily work offline. Files stored only in iCloud show a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file. Learn more about this feature.
- Photos. Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimized) versions of photos are kept on your Mac. To download the original photo or video, just open it.
- Messages. Store all messages and attachments in iCloud. When storage space is needed, only the messages and attachments you recently opened are kept on your Mac. Learn more about Messages in iCloud.
Storing files in iCloud uses the storage space in your iCloud storage plan. If you reach or exceed your iCloud storage limit, you can either buy more iCloud storage or make more iCloud storage available. iCloud storage starts at 50GB for $0.99 (USD) a month, and you can purchase additional storage directly from your Apple device. Learn more about prices in your region.
Optimize Storage
Click the Optimize button to save space by automatically removing watched movies and TV shows. When storage space is needed, movies or TV shows that you purchased from Apple and already watched are removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a movie or TV show to download it again.
Your Mac will also save space by keeping only recent email attachments on this Mac when storage space is needed. You can manually download any attachments at any time by opening the email or attachment, or saving the attachment to your Mac.
Optimizing storage for movies, TV shows, and email attachments doesn't require iCloud storage space.
Empty Trash Automatically
Empty Trash Automatically permanently deletes files that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.
Reduce Clutter
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Reduce Clutter helps you identify large files and files you might no longer need. Click the Review Files button, then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation, or Trash.
You can delete the files in some categories directly from this window. Other categories show the total storage space used by the files in each app. You can then open the app and decide whether to delete files from within it.
Learn how to redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books.
Where to find the settings for each feature
The button for each recommendation in the Storage Management window affects one or more settings in other apps. You can also control those settings directly within each app.
- If you're using macOS Catalina or later, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimize Mac Storage setting on the right. To turn off iCloud Drive entirely, deselect iCloud Drive.
- If you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Options next to iCloud Drive. Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimize Mac Storage settings.
- In Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimize Mac Storage.
- In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences, then click iMessage. Store in iCloud selects Enable Messages in iCloud.
- If you're using macOS Catalina or later, open the Apple TV app, choose TV > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Files. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
- In you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
- In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimize Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.
Empty Trash Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Trash Automatically selects “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.”
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Other ways that macOS helps automatically save space
With macOS Sierra or later, your Mac automatically takes these additional steps to save storage space:
- Detects duplicate downloads in Safari, keeping only the most recent version of the download
- Reminds you to delete used app installers
- Removes old fonts, languages, and dictionaries that aren't being used
- Clears caches, logs, and other unnecessary data when storage space is needed
How to free up storage space manually
Even without using the Optimized Storage features described in this article, you can take other steps to make more storage space available:
- Music, movies, and other media can use a lot of storage space. Learn how to delete music, movies, and TV shows from your device.
- Delete other files that you no longer need by moving them to the Trash, then emptying the Trash. The Downloads folder is good place to look for files that you might no longer need.
- Move files to an external storage device.
- Compress files.
- Delete unneeded email: In the Mail app, choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. If you no longer need the email in your Trash mailbox, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items.
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Learn more
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- The Storage pane of About This Mac is the best way to determine the amount of storage space available on your Mac. Disk Utility and other apps might show storage categories such as Not Mounted, VM, Recovery, Other Volumes, Free, or Purgeable. Don't rely on these categories to understand how to free up storage space or how much storage space is available for your data.
- When you duplicate a file on an APFS-formatted volume, that file doesn't use additional storage space on the volume. Deleting a duplicate file frees up only the space required by any data you might have added to the duplicate. If you no longer need any copies of the file, you can recover all of the storage space by deleting both the duplicate and the original file.
- If you're using a pro app and Optimize Mac Storage, learn how to make sure that your projects are always on your Mac and able to access their files.