By Karl B. Hille
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

GREENBELT, Md. — NASA scientists using virtual reality technology are redefining our understanding about how our galaxy works.

Using a customized, 3D virtual reality (VR) simulation that animated the speed and direction of 4 million stars in the local Milky Way neighborhood, astronomer Marc Kuchner and researcher Susan Higashio obtained a new perspective on the stars’ motions, improving our understanding of star groupings.