CAGE: 5JDZ0
Draper Labs
Mikrolar Creates Draper Labs' Moon Landing Simulator Platform
For this project, Draper laboratories utilized Mikrolar's P2305 Hexapod (based on the P2350 Hexapod) as the foundation of a custom immersive 3D simulator. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, it gave riders a unique personal experience to the moon without ever even leaving the ground!
July 20th, 1969 marked an important day in history with the milestone moon landing. As a celebration of the exciting moment itself, and their involvement in the original exhibition, July 20th, 2019 marked the opening of Draper's special exhibit in Cambridge, MA. With the goal of remembering the 'race to the moon' era, "Hack the Moon" brought together the story of the engineers who guided the Apollo astronauts safely to the moon and back.
The exhibit included interviews, photos, artifacts, a scaled replica of the moon (recreated using hi-res NASA imagery), and an immmersive 3D moon landing simulation. Mikrolar's custom built Hexapod and actuator-driven staircase acted as the platform for this "Lunar Lander Simulator." The system allowed you to personally experience and control the final descent to the moon yourself in 100 seconds. With a quick tutorial and some practice, you could make your very attempt to land on the moon. With so many factors in play, we very quickly discovered how truly difficult it was to attain the perfect lunar landing.
The "Hack the Moon" exhibit was open to the public from July 20th until October 5th, 2019.
Mikrolar's P2305 simulator base.
Draper's "Hack the Moon" exhibit featuring our Hexapod Simulator.
Immersive 3D Moon Lander Sim.
Inside the simulator.
Lunar Lander Assembly Timelapse.