Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond MMO – making space exploration sexy again?
[note: the following was one of the submissions I used for a recent failed job application - I wanted to share it with you, as it still relevant]
NASA’s recently announced three-way partnership to produce a space exploration MMO, with Virtual Heroes and Project Whitecard, has now been given a slightly less-than-sexy name in Astronaut:Moon, Mars, and Beyond.
“‘Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond’ was selected because the three companies involved had a really ideal combination of qualities we were looking for,” Daniel Laughlin of NASA’s Learning Technologies Project Office said in a statement. “They have the right experience, they demonstrated their ability to engage middle school through higher education curricula, and they have extraordinary enthusiasm about working with NASA to make a fun game…”[1]
Sure, space exploration doesn’t grab the headlines or the imagination quite like it did back in the 60s and 70s. But there are high hopes at NASA that Astronaut: Moon, Mars, an Beyond, their first foray into MMO gaming, will bring a spur of interest back into the field of scientific study:
“We want to create a fun, compelling gaming experience that will give players the chance to learn about science and engineering careers while they play the game,” said Daniel Laughlin, Ph.D., project manager of NASA Learning Technologies. “NASA is committed to attracting more students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields of study and careers. We hope this game will inspire players to consider those careers.”[2]
So what can the player expect from NASA’s MMO? A varied choice of playable professions to choose from?
“Players will pick a profession like a roboticist, space geologist, astrobiologist or mechanical engineer and work together as a team as they explore space and complete missions, establishing bases and outposts and traveling to the farthest reaches of the solar system,” explained JerryHeneghan, founder and CEO of Virtual Heroes.[3]
Expect a demo of Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond in our solar system later this year, with full systems launch due in 2010.
DM∞
