Destination Mars - A Meteor Impact Simulation on the Surface of Mars.

Experience a scale model of a Martian asteroid impact. The model crater is 50 m in diamter and the model runs in slow motion at 1/10th the speed of an actual event.

Watch a machinima* of the Destination Mars simulation. 

Project Director: Patio Plasma
Model Building & Scripting: Emileigh Starbrook
Particle Systems Scripting: Debbie Trilling

*machinimas are films made entirely in virtual worlds.

Visit the Exploratorium's amphitheater to watch on-demand replays of the latest Exploratorium Webcasts and other video clips

Teleport to the Exploratorium amphitheater

What can a museum do in a virtual world that would be difficult—or impossible—to do in the real world? Exploratorium media creators and educators have been exploring this question by experimenting in Second Life (SL), a large, multiuser, three-dimensional online virtual world. You visit this world as an “avatar” (a representation of yourself), and through your avatar’s eyes explore areas and features made by other people or by institutions, or create new environments—or parts of them—yourself. Social interaction is one of the most important features of SL; you can use instant messaging, gestures, or chats to communicate with others. You can also have experiences that are impossible in the real world—from flying anywhere in SL to soaring through the solar system to altering gravity. What you do depends on your curiosity and creativity, which makes it a perfect playground for the Exploratorium.

For about a year, our staff has been exploring the possibilities provided by Second Life—and has done some amazing things. On March 29, 2006, we mixed real- and virtual-world experiences when we presented a live Webcast of our solar eclipse coverage from Side, Turkey, in three virtual SL amphitheaters. Our eclipse program was also shown on the Web and at the museum, but the experience was different in Second Life. People from around the world, represented by their avatars, gathered at the amphitheaters and shared the unique experience by chatting with each other and with Exploratorium (avatar) staff. In another mix of real and virtual reality, we streamed an entire rare transit of the planet Mercury live from telescopes at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) in Kitt Peak, Arizona, into the International Spaceflight Museum site in SL. Exploratorium staff members provided voice commentary, and an avatar staff member on stage answered questions posed by avatars in the international audience. A three-dimensional model of the orbit of Mercury hung over the stage; avatars could fly to and examine the orbiting planet.

In the future, we plan to do a lot more in this online world. We’ve purchased an island in SL where we’ll create an Exploratorium museum, full of exhibits impossible to create on the floor of the museum. We’ll continue to experiment and expand the social, contextual, and educational possibilities of SL through more live events, plus offer other features still in the planning stage.

Teleport to the ’Splo