Apollo 11 VR is an immersive historical documentary. Beginning with President Kennedy’s compelling “Mission to the Moon Speech”, viewers follow along as President Armstrong launches, travels through space travel and eventually lands on the lunar surface.
Jay Trzaskos was seen bobbing his head while watching the video, donning NASA-themed sneakers to commemorate Apollo 11. He works at Microsoft’s Advanced Prototyping Center in Redmond.
The Story
This month marks 50 years since humanity first embarked upon its Apollo 11 mission and explored another planet. The story behind this historic event continues to inspire and amaze, inspiring young and old alike.
This year’s new film APOLLO 11 tells the tale of its mission through interviews with those present, such as astronauts, as well as archival footage and recreations of spacecraft. It is an impressive and moving journey which will leave audiences with deep respect for those involved on their mission to the moon and all who supported them along their journey.
Although APOLLO 11 centers on Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as its protagonists, it also highlights other crew members such as Michael Collins as well as those at NASA Mission Control who played key roles in making lunar landing a reality.
APOLLO 11 features interviews with both astronauts and Mission Control personnel as well as several reenactments of key moments from their mission, such as Neil Armstrong taking his first steps on the moon with news broadcast commentary noting this unprecedented accomplishment.
One of the most fascinating elements of this documentary is seeing each astronaut go about their duties on the Moon. A lot of it revolves around Collins who often gets eclipsed by Armstrong and Aldrin; here, his two hours on the lunar surface were filled with deployment of scientific instruments, flag erecting, and taking calls from President Nixon!
Astroneer, the space science ’em up, is celebrating 50 years since Apollo 11 landed on the moon by offering a time-limited event and update. Players can visit Desolo and search for NASA lunar lander relics; those lucky enough to locate one will be able to use it for photo opportunities and unlock commemorative rewards!
The Visuals
As well as telling its own narrative, Apollo 11 VR offers an engaging experience that takes you all the way from rocket launch through to landing on the moon and exploring its surface. Visuals are highly detailed with original archive video/audio as well as recreation of actual Apollo 11 mission scenes. A truly captivating piece of work! This remake was originally launched with Oculus Rift and HTC Vive launch titles – making for an excellent introduction into virtual reality gaming!
The Audio
As opposed to many VR games that place heavy emphasis on gameplay, this experience takes the form of more of a cinematic documentary than game. A celebration of Apollo 11 mission, it presents all of its key moments leading up to Neil Armstrong’s famous statement of ‘one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Sound design in this game is outstanding. All original NASA audio recordings are included, combined with atmospheric music to create an out-of-this-world experience. The sound design can even seem strangely alien at times, suggesting it may have come directly from Atari’s speech synthesizers.
Not only are audio and visual information richly detailed in this game; its first-person perspective offers accurate recreations of both Apollo spacecraft and surrounding locations.
Experience NASA history through this documentary-style game that immerses players into its past achievements, from Apollo 11 through its most significant accomplishments and virtual reality features like this game are sure to leave an unforgettable impression of these feats of achievement and journeys! Sadly, however, special glasses are required in order to access this experience, but that shouldn’t stop fans of NASA from experiencing all this incredible journey has brought! You will come away feeling humbled yet inspired at what these astronauts achieved together on this incredible mission!
The Controls
Arriving home late one evening to an unfamiliar wooden-panelled room filled with an otherworldly warble that seems to emanate from outer space, you awake to find CRT TV casting its glow over the room and digital clock reading 3:02 AM. A stack of CDs resting behind Spawn posters provides further disorientation; their mysterious noises have actually been taken from real NASA transmissions used during mission, modified with speech synthesis software to heighten their uncanny nature.
Apollo controllers hoped their work on the project would spark public enthusiasm and inspire younger generations to continue pushing boundaries, just as they had done 50 years earlier. But they also knew there would be challenges ahead.
They had to deliver astronauts safely back from space while keeping American citizens informed in an ever-evolving world. To meet this goal, the crew employed a team comprised of sleepless news correspondents and operations engineers; along with flight directors and astronauts. Since 2013, this crew has also been working to restore Mission Control building (now known as Building 30).