Take the Next Giant Leap With NASA and Minecraft

Take the Next Giant Leap With NASA and Minecraft
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 08, 2023

Kids worldwide unleash their creativity every day as they build and explore their own blocky worlds within the Minecraft universe. Now, they can build and launch a rocket and blast off on an adventure to the Moon through a new Artemis-inspired set of worlds, developed through a partnership between Minecraft Education and NASA.

Just like the real NASA Artemis team working to return humans to the Moon, gamers in these new Minecraft worlds can build and launch a rocket, guide their Orion spacecraft, and even establish a lunar base alongside their team. Minecraft Artemis Missions was developed to engage students ages 8 and up in NASA's next chapter in human spaceflight and encourage them to see themselves as future astronauts or scientists.

The collaboration is part of an existing partnership between NASA's Office of STEM Engagement and Microsoft, which owns Minecraft. Minecraft Education is a game-based learning platform set in the Minecraft universe.

"NASA strives to reach the broadest audience and inspire the Artemis Generation to prepare them for the missions of tomorrow," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "Through our partnership with Microsoft, this new frontier in Minecraft reflects NASA's priority of pushing the boundaries of exploration on the Moon, Mars and beyond!"

Minecraft has built two new immersive worlds based on the real-world Artemis missions to come, in which astronaut crews, including the first woman and first person of color, will establish a long-term human presence on the Moon. Students will learn basic rocket engineering and mechanics as they build and launch their rocket in Minecraft's "Artemis: Rocket Build" mission. In the next mission, "Return to the Moon," they'll test their coding skills as they program the Orion spacecraft to successfully land on the Moon.

"Artemis: Rocket Build" is available for free on both the Minecraft Marketplace and in Minecraft Education, while "Artemis: Return to the Moon" and "Artemis: Moon Base" are exclusive to Minecraft Education.

Minecraft Artemis Missions are positioned to reach the Artemis Generation of students just as NASA's Artemis era begins. The Artemis I mission in late 2022 marked the first integrated flight test of the agency's mega Moon rocket, the Space Launch System, and the uncrewed Orion spacecraft. During the three-week flight, Orion demonstrated its capabilities in deep space and performed two lunar fly-bys, setting the stage for increasingly complex and ambitious missions with astronauts.

NASA's Office of STEM Engagement provides unique opportunities for students to participate in STEM and space science experiences designed to spark an interest in a STEM career. Through collaboration with partners such as Microsoft, NASA has the opportunity to share the excitement of space exploration with even more students who are part of the Artemis Generation.