You may not have known this, but there is an official NASA MMO in the works. It’s still very early in development and is being funded through a Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is a site in which individuals can request financial donations that will go towards the project they’re trying to get off the ground. In regards to Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond, over 500 backers have donated over $30,200 to the project.

In an effort to attract new and younger talent to its ranks, NASA has come up with a new strategy: Using video games to give people a chance to get a glimpse of outer space.

NASA believes that there are many teenagers who have the talent for a successful career but probably have never been in contact with the work that is actually done there. That is why they are joining forces with three different developers: Virtual Heroes (America’s Army), Project Whitecard and Wisdom Tools.

Using NASA’s knowledge and technical expertise the developers are working on a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) that will allow players to engage in space exploration in a more realistic fashion. Astronaut: Mars, Moon and Beyond will allow players to visit Mars and see Spirit and Opportunity going about their business or see the Moon and look at the footsteps of astronauts (and all the gear they left there).