NASA MMO developers announced

NASA has secured development partners for the forthcoming massively multiplayer online game Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

Virtual Heroes, who have previously worked on America's Army, will join Project Whitecard and Information in Place on the Unreal Engine 3-driven title.

The project is designed as a learning tool, and is expected to stimulate learning at costs considerably less than regular internships.

"We want to create a fun, compelling gaming experience that will give players the chance to learn about science and engineering careers while they play the game," said Daniel Laughlin, project manager at NASA Learning Technologies, to Yahoogames.

"NASA is committed to attracting more students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields of study and careers. We hope this game will inspire players to consider those careers."

Former NASA astronauts, scientists and engineers are involved with the project, which will also recreate spacecraft, technology and robotics based on NASA prototypes.

The game is due for release next year, with a demo set for the end of 2009.