LunarLander

Lunar Lander is a great free physics simulation model.

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Lunar Lander is a great free physics simulation model. It was made by Phet, at University of Colorado.

This simulation tool disguised as a game can help students of physics understand many concepts. Some of the main topics involved in this simulation are the moon, the lunar landings, mass, thrust, fuel consumption and gravity. The objective of the game is for you to land the Lunar Lander on a flat area of the moon, while avoiding rocks and boulders, all of this with a limited fuel supply. You get points for each landing in a different zone. You get more points for soft landings, which are those that are well executed. If you crash on a boulder and break the lander, you lose.

The game controls are simple, but it is not easy to control the lander with precision. This is how the astronauts piloted the Lunar Lander in the 60s. You will soon see that you have to carefully plan every move to get the lander to land safely.

On the right part of the screen, you will see a meter that displays the orientation of the ship, the altitude, range, a fuel meter, and the thrust and lateral displacement of the ship. This info should help you land, but you don't really need it.

There are clear instructions on how to play the game and what the objective is.

Pros

  • Very illustrative
  • Fun to play

Cons

  • None
This program received 1 award
  DOWNLOAD 546 KB Free
Specifications
License type:
Freeware