Microsoft Flight Simulator’s next update could make room for the Space Shuttle

polygon.com:

In a recent behind-the-scenes video, head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann took a field trip to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The stated goal was to promote the game’s 40th anniversary update, which will add iconic aircraft like the Spirit of St. Louis and the Wright Flyer to the game come November. Speaking with Polygon just a few days before, Neumann also revealed that he and his team are contemplating an even bigger addition — Space Shuttle Discovery.

“I flew to Washington and had that exact conversation with people who actually have a Space Shuttle,” Neumann told Polygon in an interview. “I have to sign a deal and that’s going to take a while. But, fundamentally speaking, can we? Should we? I think we should.”

Microsoft Flight Simulator’s 40th Anniversary Edition will be a free upgrade for the base game. It will include a number of new aircraft, including those mentioned above, as well as a huge improvement to its already robust physics system. It’s called the “Fluid Dynamics Simulation” module, and it’s incredibly important for the implementation of two new types of aircraft: helicopters and gliders.

Fixed-wing aircraft — the majority of which can be piloted in Microsoft Flight Simulator currently — generate lift by flying into the wind, using the powerful thrust generated by an engine to create forward velocity that pulls an airplane off the ground and into the air. Rotary-wing aircraft including helicopters work very differently. While the vehicle itself remains still, the helicopter’s engine spins its wings — called rotors — around the airframe to generate lift. The rotors can be adjusted so that the axis of lift can be tilted forward and back, or side to side, to