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NASA to Make Computer Game

by Ian Rowan on January 22, 2008 at 09:02 AM


Following in the footsteps of the U.S. Army's America's Army Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game -- but with more peace-oriented content -- NASA has announced a call to video game developers to create a platform for virtual space exploration. Although NASA already owns some island real-estate in the online community of Second Life, a full-fledged video game is a much more ambitious project.

"We at NASA are working hard to create opportunities for what I might call participatory exploration," says Simon Worden, director of the Ames Research Center of NASA. With that in mind, the projects scope includes an online environment that would allow for virtual experimentations with 'real' chemical reactions in living cells, practice in operating and repairing expensive space equipment, and lessons in how microgravity effects experimentation.

The idea is to make the game available to all -- avid space aficionados, high school students -- since it'll be accessible online. It's the first time something this advanced would be available to a wide audience, if it actually happens.

We'll keep you posted as the game develops in the coming year (or decades knowing the way that NASA programs seem to go...)


From BBC


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