Science Museum / Alchemy VR
When Tim Peake returned from the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2016 he was carried by the Soyuz TMA-19M space capsule. He was crammed into the capsule with two other astronauts for the seven-hour journey back to Earth.
Travelling back to Earth in the Russian-built capsule is an experience only a handful of humans have had. Until now.
The Science Museum has recreated Peake’s return journey to solid ground, in collaboration with Alchemy VR. The first-person VR experience, Space Descent VR, sees the wearer of a headset sit next to a virtual Peake during a 12-minute descent to Earth.
In the Science Museum’s first permanent VR exhibit, the experience of Peake’s descent sees the person in the VR world travel 400km from the ISS, slow from a speed of 25,000km per hour, and land in the Kazakhstan desert. While travelling back to Earth the VR footage allows the wearer, who is placed in the pilot’s seat, to look around the cramped space capsule in 360-degrees.
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Source: Wired