Geez NASA. I used to feel special but,

[Aethon]

http://www.space.com/26270-angry-birds-nasa-asteroid-game.html

[Guest]

... Yeah!

[deadshot462]

NASA should team up with SimpleRockets. That game might actually teach their target audience something.

[Specialist290]

Dropping this in the Space Lounge, since it's about another game. Carry on

[BagelRabbit]

I honestly don't think, in spite of what NASA says, that "Angry Birds" in space will teach anyone anything much. Sure, there are some things that it does right... but there are some really notable physics errors that uninformed players will also "learn." I was disappointed when the game was first released, and seriously irritated when I learned that NASA had an Angry Birds exhibit in their museum. (sigh)

KSP is a really good way of teaching about rocket science, although the learning curve is definitely steeper and some people would find it less fun. Still, though, there's no reason why NASA can't back KSP the way it has backed Angry Birds. KSP is more accurate, has more achievements, and most importantly, the aim of KSP is to build physically correct contraptions, not to kill ovoid green pigs.

To quote Marja Kottinen (at the bottom of the original post's article):

"Our partnership [with NASA] has blended entertainment and education, which has been enjoyed by millions of people worldwide ... It really has been a fun and unique way of showing just how fascinating NASA's scientific missions are." [emphasis added]

If you're trying to make a scientific and educational game, please don't make the science secondary to killing green pigs and knocking over structures made of glass and wood. Please put the science at the heart of the game, where it will be most appreciated, and where it can actually teach people things.

ok I'm done now

[ZedNova]

Wait, people still play angry birds?

[Guest]

Wait, people still play angry birds?

Yes.

(10 chars)

[EuSouONumero345]

huh

I guess...There is something wrong with people at NASA...

Entertaining? Yes, I actually quite enjoy playing Angry Birds.

Informative? No, you just don't try to turn a game about birds striking pigs and destroying some stuff with some physics into a game. It's like...trying to add a Space level with physics to, say, Need For Speed, or any racing game. It doesn't work!

[SpaceXray]

Seriously? Angry Birds? NASA just lost my respect...

Such cheap popularization of NASA through the (former) most popular game on the AppStore.

They should team up with Squad or SimpleRockets, but not with Rovio.

At least SpaceX, ROSCOSMOS or the Chinese aren't such sellouts and don't teach people wrong physics.

I don't want people to think space is 2 dimensional and is filled with spacebirds and stuff..

[lajoswinkler]

Look the bright side of it - at least this will reduce the number of jaded people who'd like their money to go to the military instead of science sector.

[montyben101]

... What could angry birds teach people apart from the fact that birds get attracted to certain rocks. Jesus nasa what are you doing?!

[vger]

Angry Birds taught me that Apple is even more evil than I previously thought.

[LABHOUSE]

Does this have anything to do with Don bringing a plush pig and red bird to the iss?

[cantab]

I never played the space edition, but remember that Angry Birds is, behind the cartoony graphics, a physics-based game. You fling the birds on ballistic trajectories (the yellow one notwithstanding) and make structures fall over.

[vger]

I never played the space edition, but remember that Angry Birds is, behind the cartoony graphics, a physics-based game. You fling the birds on ballistic trajectories (the yellow one notwithstanding) and make structures fall over.

That certainly sounds like what NASA does.

Wait, what?

[Kinglet]

huh

I guess...There is something wrong with people at NASA...

Entertaining? Yes, I actually quite enjoy playing Angry Birds.

Informative? No, you just don't try to turn a game about birds striking pigs and destroying some stuff with some physics into a game. It's like...trying to add a Space level with physics to, say, Need For Speed, or any racing game. It doesn't work!

It does.

3, 2 , 1, GO!

*Cars attempt to accelerate and float off into space while the drivers die.*

[xzxvrx]

First the angry birds building at the KSC visitor complex... now this?

[montyben101]

Apart from being space related why DOES nasa have an angry birds experience at the visitor centre? ????