jaw@ames-lm.UUCP (James A. Woods) (05/25/84)
# I'm the Urban Spaceman, baby, I can fly. I'm a supersonic guy.
I'm the urban spaceman, baby, I've got speed. And everything you need.
I'm the " " , baby, a lover second to none. It's a lot of fun.
I don't need pleasure, I don't need pain.
If you knock me down, I'll just get up again.
I'm the urban spaceman, baby, here comes the twist--
I don't exist.
-- Bonzo Dog Band, from 2nd LP "The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse"
_____________
Well, space station designers, the little elves have already done
your work for you! The company Hesware (HES) of Brisbane, California
is announcing:
Project Space Station: A Space Station Construction Set
As reported in Infoworld of April 16, 1984 (p. 38), it is one of the more
spectacular microcomputer "construction kits" (ala Pinball Construction Set)
on the market. "The product is more a simulation than an arcade game ...
in this case, an orbital space station that uses representations of available
parts that NASA will be using in building its own space station."
It runs on the Commodore 64 and the IBM PC, and is actually
many construction sets in one. Continuing, Infoworld says: "Players
have to create a budget and schedule for launching the station, then
choose the equipment for the station from a catalog and add or move
parts as necessary. They will also pick a use for the space station, select a
crew, launch space shuttles into orbit and maneuver parts with the shuttle's
remote manipulator arm or rocket pods and deal with such real-life problems
as weather or unfavorable media coverage." (!)
The developer for HES is Stan Kent of AstroSpace, a former Lockeed
aerospace engineer.
"Project Space Station also takes the player one step closer to the
reality of working for the space agency. Players have to make a simulated
trip to Washington, D.C., to resign as project director in order to quit
the game. 'You can always turn it off, but that's the coward's way out,'
Kent says. .... The [simulated] equipment is so accurate that it includes
the PAM-D, the orbital transfer vehicle that failed to deliver its
satellite payloads to the high orbits necessary for them to function
during the last NASA shuttle flight."
Sounds like NASA ought to hire this man.
-- James A. Woods {dual,hplabs,hao,research}!ames-lm!jaw