Description
Simulations offer an accessible and visual way for learners to engage with concepts and ideas that are complex or difficult to visualise. Spaceflight lends itself well to simulation, as the construction, behaviour, and dynamics of spacecraft cannot be readily reproduced in a classroom or physical laboratory setting. Spaceflight simulations allow learners to assemble and launch vehicles with payloads; experiment with propulsion and orbital manoeuvres; and design and conduct missions in a low-stakes, iterative environment.
Kerbal Space Program (KSP) is commercially available, low-cost spaceflight simulation software which provides a visually engaging and semi-physically realistic platform through which the various aspects of space missions can be explored. In addition to modelling both powered and unpowered spacecraft motion, KSP incorporates simplified representations of key mission systems such as communications and power. KSP therefore enables learners to grapple not only with spacecraft behaviour but also with the technological trade-offs often required in designing and operating a space mission.
This presentation will give an account of the design and first delivery of a course called Space Missions, in which learners design and simulate a space mission of their choosing. Learners are given considerable freedom to explore and devise missions that reflect their own interests and values, while engaging with the challenges of real-world spaceflight. Within the course, KSP provides an authentic simulation environment in which each learner develops a mission concept centred on a scientific or technological goal and then constructs and operates a virtual spacecraft capable of accomplishing that goal. Reflections will highlight lessons learned from the first delivery, together with further physics-specific applications of KSP to support learners’ understanding of physics concepts.
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