MIT team places first in U.S. Air Force virtual reality competition, by Sarah Jensen

Satellite operator’s visualization tool could help prevent space collisions.

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics graduate student Eric Hinterman (left) and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science graduate student Eswar Anandapadmanaban are members of the MIT team that took first prize in the U.S. Air Force’s Visionary Q-Prize Competition.
Photo: William Litant/AeroAstro

Sarah Jensen | Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 
April 9, 2019

When the United States Air Force put out a call for submissions for its first-ever Visionary Q-Prize competition in October 2018, a six-person team of MIT students and alumni took up the challenge. Last month, they emerged as a first-place winner for their prototype of a virtual reality tool they called CoSMIC (Command, Sensing, and Mapping Information Center).

The challenge was hosted by the Air Force Research Labs Space Vehicles Directorate and the Wright Brothers Institute to encourage nontraditional sources with innovative products and ideas to engage with military customers to develop solutions for safe and secure operations in space.

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