NASA is giving the Alexandria, Va.-based Challenger Center for Space Science Education $1 million to evaluate the educational content of an astronaut-themed online role-playing game the U.S. space agency is creating in cooperation with a group of game developers.
Astronaut School, which is still in development, is a so-called massive multi-player online role-playing game that will allow players around the world to work together to explore the Moon, Mars and other solar system destinations.
The Challenger Center said in a March 31 press release that it will partner on the $1 million grant with a wide range of groups, including several universities and the game’s developers — Information Place, Virtual Heroes and Project Whitecard.
Moonbase Alpha, a demo version of the game described on a NASA Web site as “utilizing actual NASA Constellation program design details developed by NASA for mankind’s return to the Moon in 2020,” was supposed to have been released in January.
