Nasa motion tech simulates lunar landings

The Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) at Nasa Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, is the world's largest high-fidelity motion-based simulation system.

Moving as much as 60 feet vertically and 40 feet horizontally, the VMS gives pilots and engineers an opportunity to study flight characteristics of vehicles safely, in real time, and under accurate conditions.

Right now, Nasa is studying the designs for the next generation of human occupied space vehicles. The Altair lunar lander, now in its third design iteration, will undergo changes based on the studies here, and eventually go into production and be used in the next generation of spaceflight.