Tag Archives: SCaN

NASA releases a game

Who knew it was World Space Week last week, Oct. 4-10, 2011? I certainly didn’t but then I don’t work for any of the space agencies.  I’m not sure if they’re commemorating the end of space week or not but NASA (US National Aeronautics and Aerospace Administration) released an interactive video game at roughly that time according to an Oct. 12, 2011 news item on physorg.com. From the news item,

NASA has released an interactive, educational video game called NetworKing that depicts how the Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) network operates. …

To successfully construct fast and efficient communication networks, players must first establish command stations around the world and accept clients conducting space missions, such as satellites and space telescopes. Resources are earned throughout the game as players continue to acquire more clients. Players can strategically use accumulated resources to enhance and increase their networks’ capabilities.

Players with the most integrated communications networks will have the ability to acquire more complex clients, such as the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope and the Kepler mission.

This sounds like it could be a very exciting game. Here’s a bit more about it and the rest of the NASA 3D Resources website where the game resides,

NetworKing is available to the public for play on the NASA 3D Resources website. Players can access the game using an Internet browser. It can be downloaded and run on both a PC and Macintosh operating system. To play the NetworKing game, visit: http://www.nasa.go … es/scan.html

In conjunction with NetworKing, the 3D Resources website also links visitors to the Station Spacewalk Interactive Game and the SCaN Interactive Demo that demonstrate the interaction between SCaN’s ground-and-space facilities and NASA spacecraft.

Interestingly, they also offer an opportunity for anyone who wants to create their own game using free 3D models for NASA. From the website NetworKing page,

Would you like to create your own video game? Visit http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/3d_resources/ to download free 3D models from NASA.

I was not able to discover what skill set you need or what age range is considered suitable for this game. Have fun figuring it all out!