NASA hoping to recruit new talent with Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond

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).