The first manned mission to Mars is slated to occur within the next two decades. And while companies like SpaceX and movies like The Martian have recaptured the general public’s imagination with space, Lockheed Martin is actually making travel to Mars and deep space a reality, soon.
We’re already testing the spacecraft that will do it. And because that first manned mission is coming so soon, we decided to inspire and prepare the people we’ll be bringing there, kids in school today.
So we started by creating 200 virtual square miles of Mars’ surface that was directly mapped to the real streets of D.C. The virtual experience showcased geological features, the Curiosity rover, a realistic base camp and even a massive Martian dust storm.
And then we bought a school bus.
We completely gutted the bus to install our custom-built switchable electric glass screens that transitioned from transparent to opaque, and paired them with 4K transparent LCD displays. We then re-outfitted the bus to make it look and feel like any other school bus.
By integrating our virtual Mars surface, custom screen technology, GPS, 3-axis accelerometer, magnetometer, and laser surface velocimeter, the bus became our virtual reality “headset”, creating the first-ever headset-free group virtual reality vehicle experience.
Our first riders, D.C.-area students, thought they were going on a normal field trip. But as the windows transformed to reveal the Martian landscape, we surprised them with a field trip unlike any other. By creating this first-of-its-kind technology to bring Mars to Earth, we’re using innovation to inspire an entire generation to realize how much further they can truly go with a little help from Lockheed Martin.