Astronaut:Moon, Mars and Beyond™

[Mrbloodworth]

Its an Edutainment product, sadly my company at the time didn't bid on it.

But, it seems to have funding from the government, the makers, and also kick starter.

The core of the project: the actual game development is being undertaken by Project Whitecard Inc. and Virtual Heroes of Applied Research Associates.

Our game is the most challenging concept for developers ever created by NASA. We are building a 3d avatar community around a fictional depiction of the year 2035. In the game, players will be whisked away, Harry-Potter-style to the Arthur C. Clarke Astronaut Academy Station™, a sort of "Hogwarts" in space. Players will literally hold this world in their hands on the iPhone, PC and select consoles (currently planned); will have access to a complete and technical "Astronaut Handbook" at the virtual Academy library, and revolutionarily, players will be able to visit and live through future, fanciful NASA missions in accurate, virtual depictions of the Space Academy, Mars, the asteroid belt, and solar system.

Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond™ features a new mode of game-play: mission-based space exploration, providing exciting player vs. environment and compelling team vs. team play. A goldmine of NASA MMO content will be employed, permitting authentic solar system exploration, and delivering engaging Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics concepts.  

Kickstarter link.

Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond forum

[Ghambit]

This thing has been on the govt. books for a while and has been killed and restarted a few times now I see.

[Mrbloodworth]

Well, I know originally it was air force contract, now NASA. I don't really have faith it will be a good GAME, going by the products of the company in question, but it could be a cool recruitment tool.

Too often the GOV goes with company's that really should not be making things for anyone outside the field.

[Ghambit]

The digital talent in the DMV area is pretty damned impressive.  I know a lot of pretty badass practical apps come out of here.  Why not entertainment?
Anyways, it's always been a great idea that never saw the light of day due to govt. money "redistribution."  Funny, no one cites the ridiculous amount of success America's Army had for the military.  Apps like this pay for themselves many times over.

And with the push now for definitive R&D into sci/eng rather than simply a LEO trucking service, we need more imagination when it comes to this stuff.  Good software can supply this.

Fuck, this makes me want to fire up an Orbiter or Nexus server.