For those of us who grew up in the 1960s, getting excited about space travel seemed to be part of our daily life. First the Gemini missions, then Apollo 8 orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve. And who wasn’t holding their breath for “one small step for man…one giant leap for mankind”? For kids today, space missions are just, well, are. NASA wants to change that.
NetworKing is NASA’s latest video game offering, kids a chance to be the network manager, the person who has to build the critical communications network to support the astronauts, mission controllers, and scientists, in a simulated mission. Objectives include building a Near Earth Network, a Space Network, and a Deep Space Network.
You can play NetworKing on line, or download a free standalone version for both PC and Mac platforms. Check it out, play, or download.
NetworKing is just one of the games NASA offers. Another is the Station Spacewalk Game, another simulation that lets the player get to know the space station, then complete mission objectives during spacewalks (EVAs) before exhausting the oxygen supply.
NASA’s multimedia Web site also offers interactive features that cover topics like Gus Grissom’s Liberty 7 Mercury mission; the “car” astronauts drove on the moon during Apollo 15 so the astronauts had more time for scientific study, the Spirit rover on Mars; and the final mission of the Space Shuttle recently completed. You can access the interactive features here.
