Virtual environments for aerospace training

Virtual environments (VEs) have the potential to significantly enhance the training of NASA astronauts and ground based personnel for a variety of activities. At the same time this technology offers significant cost savings and increased training throughput. Issues being explored include the use of VEs to replicate features of microgravity environments that are not available in ground based simulators, the degree of fidelity needed for effective training, the addition of haptic (tactile, force, temperature) feedback to VEs, and the feasibility of using VEs on orbit for “just in time training” and mission planning. The results of the use of virtual environments for training the Hubble Space Telescope Repair and Maintenance Mission flight team are discussed. In addition, progress on the development of shared virtual environments for training is presented