NASA 'Astronaut' MMO aiming for iOS, PC beta

Titled "Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond," the official NASA MMO is set in the year 2035, and takes players to Mars, the asteroid belt, and the outer planets. The beta is planned for iOS and PC release in December 2012.

5

NASA'a plans to make an educational space MMO may finally turn into reality. Titled "Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond," the official NASA MMO is set in the year 2035, and takes players to Mars, the asteroid belt, and the outer planets. "You will uncover secrets about a threat to civilization as we know it, and build you and your team a high-tech inventory of space gear including a home base, somewhere out there," the pitch reads.

The developers at Project Whitecard are calling Astronaut a "once-in-a-lifetime project." While there are ambitious plans to release both an iOS and PC beta--running on Unreal Engine 3, nonetheless--the team has a speed bump to overcome. The team needs money.

To fund development, the developers are using Kickstarter, a crowd-sourced fundraising service. Contributors will all receive access to the beta, scheduled for December 2012, along with a variety of other bonuses. Access to the beta will be granted with a minimum $10 donation.

Whitecard is looking to raise at least $50,000 through Kickstarter, and notes that a "matching government tax credit" will match all donations up to $700,000. Unfortunately, the project has only received about $4,000 worth of pledges so far, placing NASA's plans to virtually send us to space on shaky ground.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

Filed Under
From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 23, 2011 5:30 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, NASA 'Astronaut' MMO aiming for iOS, PC beta.

    Titled "Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond," the official NASA MMO is set in the year 2035, and takes players to Mars, the asteroid belt, and the outer planets. The beta is planned for iOS and PC release in December 2012.

    • reply
      August 23, 2011 5:31 PM

      since they can no longer explore space they will now try to understand Objective C

    • reply
      August 23, 2011 5:39 PM

      please leave the text to voice on.... please leave the text to voice on....

      brbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbr

    • reply
      August 23, 2011 6:10 PM

      I really liked Moonbase Alpha, but they shoud've either delivered more content or allowed modding. Last update: 10th August 2010, Release date 6th July 2010.

    • reply
      August 23, 2011 6:15 PM

      Good luck to `em. This has a tiny tiny chance of being the space exploration/colonization game I would love to see... threw a few dollars their way just in case.

    • reply
      August 23, 2011 6:41 PM

      Trying to drum up money via Kickstarter doesn't sound terribly Official to me. :|

    • reply
      August 23, 2011 6:44 PM

      John Madden.

      • reply
        August 24, 2011 8:48 AM

        brlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrlbrl

    • reply
      August 23, 2011 8:02 PM

      Man I cant wait to play the sequel to Moonbase Alpha text to speech simulator.

    • reply
      August 23, 2011 11:04 PM

      Even Obama has privatized NASA game development!

    • reply
      August 24, 2011 6:17 AM

      So playing this aeiouaeiouaeiouaeiouaeiouaeiouaeiouaeiouaeiou...uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

    • reply
      August 24, 2011 6:29 AM

      Does it support aeiou?

Hello, Meet Lola