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This is the NASA video AMS Time Lapse Installation a time-lapse of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) installation at the International Space Station. At about 01:30 in the video, there is about 1 second where it jumps to a some computer simulation.

What is being shown exactly? Is it CGI or CAD or something else?

screen shot from NASA video AMS Time Lapse Installation

BattousaiBTW
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    Oh man, the comments on this video make me cringe… how is it that people do not think about that these missions need to be planned, simulated and tracked, of course using 3D models? We're very likely seeing a software that tracks the ongoing mission, where each part (Canadarm, payload) is supposed to be, etc. – DarkDust Apr 24 '20 at 06:49
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    Not pushing conspiracy theories and I am not trolling, I am just looking for answers. – BattousaiBTW Apr 24 '20 at 07:30
  • The best way to deal with a conspiracy theorist is to ignore them @BattousaiBTW. They have a near infinite supply of things that need "explanation", and you have finite time - if you explain this one there's another stack behind it to be brought out, and if you don't find one it's "see, see see!". You could send this person to space themselves and they'd come back with a whole rationale for why everything they experienced was fake. Don't waste your time - or ours! – GdD Apr 24 '20 at 07:35
  • I've adjusted the wording to better fit the style of the site, how does it look? – uhoh Apr 24 '20 at 07:37
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    That sounds better, thanks. Sorry, I am new here – BattousaiBTW Apr 24 '20 at 07:38
  • An old greek philosopher once said "some questions do not deserve an answer but a reprimand" ... someone who beliefs this video compilation published by NASA is a valid proof for an hoax will not be converted with a "that's a snapshot from tools NASA uses to control the procedure" – CallMeTom Apr 24 '20 at 07:40
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    And I am not necessarily looking to have an explanation to give my friend, I just wanted an explanation for my own understanding. I don't feel like that is a waste of my time. – BattousaiBTW Apr 24 '20 at 07:40
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    +1 It's a perfectly reasonable question, that's why we have the identify-this-object tag. – uhoh Apr 24 '20 at 07:45
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    That's a good reason to ask a question @BattousaiBTW, welcome to the site! – GdD Apr 24 '20 at 07:46
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    I didn't know what tags to use or what tags even exist so thanks for adding them for me. – BattousaiBTW Apr 24 '20 at 07:48
  • @DarkDust it's actually planning software called MAGIK. There is different software used to track the ongoing mission called DOUG. I'm glad I didn't watch the video after reading your comment! – Organic Marble Apr 24 '20 at 15:10
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    @OrganicMarble The video is just a neat time-lapse from NASA. It's the comments that are painful. Then again, when aren't youtube comments painful? – Harabeck Apr 24 '20 at 20:52

1 Answers1

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That's generated by one of the Johnson Space Center robotics/EVA planning tools, called MAGIK (Manipulator Analysis-Graphic, Interactive, Kinematic).

Here is a screenshot of a MAGIK video used when we were working on the Docked Late Inspection failure response on STS-131:

screenshot from MAGIK video. There are four sub-pictures showing various camera and gods-eye views of the shuttle and ISS

(personal notes)

The small squares are views from different cameras and the large view in the lower right is a "God's-eye view".

Basically the tool is used when planning an operation to figure out the joint angles that will be used by the manipulator arms to achieve the mission goals while obeying all the restrictions such as joint angle limits, clearance-to-structure rules, availability of camera views, etc.

The tool and its use are described in ISS ROBOTICS ANALYSIS AND OPERATIONS although annoyingly, most of the pictures do not render in this paper. I had to scroll down to about page 20 to find one that worked. Also this paper is from 2002 and the graphics kept getting better, as you can see when I worked there in 2010 they were quite a bit better.

The NASA/Boeing Robotics Analysis Team’s purpose is to provide NASA with efficient and thorough analysis of robotic operations on the ISS, such as assembly operations, EVA/SSRMS tasks, operations viewing, Space Vision Systems (SVS) operations, and SSRMS capture and berthing. The team is called the MAGIK Team due to their main robotic kinematic analysis tool named MAGIK which stands for ...The team uses this tool almost exclusively to perform their main analysis task of investigating kinematic feasibility of the ISS RMS assembly operations.

A much older but more detailed description of MAGIK is here.

Current Space Station Applications

MAGIK can be used to analyze the kinematics of any space station robotic operational scenario. It serves as a proof- of-concept tool for planned robotic operations. Starting from engineering drawings, models can be built to the desired level of fidelity, manipulators can be accurately modeled kinematically, and man-in-the-loop simulations can be running within hours. The ability of engineers using MAGIK to answer the "what if or "is it possible to" questions - quickly and accurately - continues to amaze even those who are familiar with its capabilities.The following sections give examples of space station analyses that have been accomplished using MAGIK in the areas of robotic assembly and maintenance, simulated viewing, astronaut training facility test setup, dexterous manipulator tasks, control algorithm development and testing, collision detection, evolution concept evaluation, servicing facility functionality, and in-space assembly of large space vehicles.

Organic Marble
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  • "Also this paper is from 2002 and the graphics kept getting better" - for 2002 that's pretty danged impressive! I thought it was from ~2010 or later. I'm guessing this ran on SGI hardware back then? – Dai Apr 24 '20 at 22:56
  • @Dai I do not know what the hardware was, I was just a user of the products, not a creator. They were great graphics! – Organic Marble Apr 24 '20 at 22:59
  • @Dai as I remember SGI computers were nice looking by themselves; the one I remember was purple I think? ;-) A big step up from gray back in the day. – uhoh Apr 25 '20 at 00:23
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    @uhoh SGI made multiple purple machines: the main purple ones were the Indigo 2 1992-1997, the Octane2 (2000-2004) and the Tezro (2003-2006). Some photos online were taken with camera-flashes that make their purple cases look blue. – Dai Apr 25 '20 at 00:28
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    Okay it would have been circa 1998 so it's the Indigo 2 I'm remembering. It was in a yellow light cleanroom area and who knows what that did to it's purple color; probably turned it indigo ;-) – uhoh Apr 25 '20 at 00:36
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    @uhoh Late in the lifespan of the Shuttle Mission Simulator its main computers were changed from Univac mainframes to Silicon Graphics machines, but I do not remember what kind. I do remember that the company (Silicon Graphics) went OOB soon after. – Organic Marble Apr 25 '20 at 01:10
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    @Dai I found a picture, they were Onyx 2 machines. https://imgur.com/a/QZEER7R Some of them say "Reality Monster" lol – Organic Marble Apr 25 '20 at 01:13
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    @OrganicMarble oooooooo! – uhoh Apr 25 '20 at 01:16
  • What's behind them? – uhoh Apr 25 '20 at 01:17
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    @uhoh It's the simulator crew station. Those metal triangles are the visual systems that feed images to the overhead windows. – Organic Marble Apr 25 '20 at 01:17
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    @uhoh here is a better picture of the crew station. Although the shape of the cockpit is invisible, it is surround by the visual systems and electronic cabinets. https://imgur.com/a/5rW4lJy The black and white fabric rectangles cover the visual systems for the windows that looked out into the payload bay. – Organic Marble Apr 25 '20 at 01:20
  • @OrganicMarble Are you guys hiring? :D – Dai Apr 25 '20 at 01:28
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    @Dai we all got laid off when the shuttle program ended in 2011 :( – Organic Marble Apr 25 '20 at 01:30