During the ten days of the Artemis II mission, millions of people followed the journey of Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen glued to their screens. That feeling of experiencing a live space reality show, watching in real time what was happening inside the Orion capsule on their phones, has reignited a passion for space and real-world exploration like nothing seen in a long time.
When that spectacle ended, many were left with a considerable cosmic void. And that's where video games come in. Instead of limiting themselves to science fiction movies, TV series, or literature, more and more gamers are looking for titles that not only "look" realistic, but also rely on scientific data and models from NASA and other agencies to simulate space with astonishing accuracy.
The new space fever: from Artemis II to the living room
The return of a crewed mission to lunar orbit has not only been a technical milestone: it has generated a contagious effect among astronomy enthusiasts, space geeks, and gamers. Many have discovered that, beyond documentaries, there is a vast array of video games that allow them to experience missions, maneuvers, and systems inspired by real data from agencies like NASA and the ESA.
Alongside Orion's flight, exploration and simulation games have seen their player base skyrocket. This is the case with Kerbal Space Program, which during Artemis II registered its highest peak of concurrent users on Steam in over a decade, with an almost 85% increase in concurrent players in a matter of days . This is no coincidence: those who see a real rocket launch often end up wanting to launch their own, even if it's digital.
This craze comes at a cultural moment when space is once again everywhere: real missions, series like the fifth season of "For All Mankind," and literary adaptations like "Project Hail Mary." Video games have joined this wave with offerings ranging from survival on alien planets to near-professional simulations of orbital flights.
Space simulators with real NASA data
The biggest leap forward in recent years is that the link between space science and video games has moved beyond mere aesthetics. It's no longer just about putting pretty stars and rockets on screen: more and more projects are using cartography, physical models, and authentic scientific data to recreate environments and missions with a level of realism that borders on professional.
The line between a training simulator and a commercial game has become extremely blurred. Just as there are hyper-realistic aviation titles (like classic flight simulators) or games that meticulously recreate driving trucks, trains, or even tractors, today we have space flight simulators that incorporate NASA data and parameters to adjust orbits, trajectories, and environmental conditions.
Among these games, some have even been developed in direct collaboration with space agencies or universities. Not all titles on the market reach that level, but those that do offer an experience where every decision, every button press, and every instrument reading reflects real procedures used in actual missions.
Artemis VR: Inside the mission that returns humanity to the Moon
One of the clearest examples of close collaboration with NASA is Artemis VR, a project conceived as a natural response to classic simulators, but focused on the Artemis mission, which aims for the return of humans to the lunar surface . Far from science fiction adventures full of creative liberties, this title prioritizes accuracy.
In Artemis VR, the player literally steps into the shoes of the crew and the personnel who manage the systems of the Orion capsule. It's not about randomly pressing buttons, but about interacting with controls that replicate real cockpit functions , following highly technical procedures. Every button, every panel, and every subsystem of the vehicle has its equivalent on the actual spacecraft.
The lunar environments visited, such as Shackleton Crater, are not mere fictional sets. They are constructed using real maps obtained by satellites and probes , including terrain features, lighting, shadows, and topographic details. This allows for the recreation of landing, exploration, and navigation conditions extremely similar to those faced by mission engineers.
The game's approach shifts from fast-paced action to focus on the truly complex aspects: managing critical systems in microgravity, survival, and troubleshooting under pressure. In other words, what truly determines the success or failure of a real mission.
Kerbal Space Program: the “toy” that ended up being an educational tool
Kerbal Space Program (KSP) is perhaps the most famous example of how an independent project became a global benchmark in simulation. At first glance, its small green characters and lighthearted aesthetic might be misleading, but underneath lies an engine for orbital physics and aerodynamics that is remarkably realistic.
In KSP, you manage an entire space program for a fictional civilization, the Kerbals. This involves managing the budget, researching technology, training astronauts, designing rockets, modules, probes, and space stations , launching them, and completing increasingly demanding missions. What begins with a simple suborbital flight can end, if you work hard, in the conquest of an entire planetary system.
The game is based on concepts that closely emulate historical and current space programs from NASA and other agencies: it takes into account the gravity of each celestial body, atmospheric drag, engine efficiency, launch windows, and orbital maneuvers . Successful missions require understanding Hohmann transfer, gravity assist, atmospheric reentry, and much more.
The KSP solar system, though fictional, is clearly inspired by our own: there's a "Kerbin" reminiscent of Earth, moons similar to the Moon, planets that evoke Mars and Jupiter, dwarf planets, and asteroid belts. Distances and travel times are represented at realistic scales, close enough to reality to force you to plan journeys that last weeks or months of simulated time.
KSP offers three main modes. Science mode rewards you with points for completing experiments and missions, which you then exchange for new technologies in a progression tree —ideal for getting familiar with the mechanics. Career mode takes it a step further, putting you in charge of the budget, reputation, contracts with private companies (like SpaceX), and the complete management of the program, much like how NASA operates in real life.
In sandbox mode, on the other hand, you have free access to all the parts, with no restrictions on money or progress , perfect for experimenting or recreating historical missions (from the first satellites in orbit to an Apollo-style program to put a Kerbal on the Moon). Many players use this mode as a laboratory to design crazy space engineering projects.
The game's mission control interface provides parameters very similar to those used by real-world control centers: orbit vectors, inclinations, periapsis, apoapsis, predicted trajectories, and fuel margins. Learning to read and manage these parameters is a crash course in orbital mechanics and space navigation that many players value as much as the fun itself.
It's no surprise that NASA has taken an interest in KSP as an outreach tool and even an educational resource. The game has received praise from actual engineers at the agency, the ESA, and figures like Elon Musk, who have cited it as an excellent conceptual "testing ground" for understanding what it takes to put something into orbit . Furthermore, the mod ecosystem further enhances the realism, adding parts inspired by real rockets, advanced life support systems, new scales, and more.
During Artemis II, the game experienced a true resurgence. After years with relatively stable figures of 3.000 to 4.000 simultaneous players, it reached almost 12.000 concurrent users, something not seen since 2015. In a context where its sequel has generated divisions, many people have preferred to return to the classic installment and recreate the paths of the real mission , sharing guides, memes, and videos on social media.
Mars Horizon 2: collaboration with the ESA to search for life
Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life continues the legacy of the first game, but takes it a step further. From its inception, this series has aimed for a scientifically plausible experience without overwhelming the player with extreme hyperrealism . It's an interesting balance between accuracy and accessibility.
What's remarkable is that the project has been developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency and the University of Edinburgh . Thanks to this, the missions you carry out and the technologies you investigate are based on plausible hypotheses, both in terms of space engineering and astrobiological criteria used in the search for life.
The player manages and plans exploration campaigns that begin in the Martian environment, as in the first installment, but this new chapter goes beyond Mars to explore other planets and astrobiological objectives . The gameplay structure combines management, strategy, technology research, and decision-making regarding scientific priorities.
While not as detailed a flight simulator as KSP, Mars Horizon 2 effectively captures the essence of a "space program" as both a scientific and political project. It forces you to balance risks, budget, international prestige, and the scientific return of each choice, much like the dilemmas faced by real space agencies.
Observation: Getting lost in an uncommunicative space station
Observation falls into the "lost in space" genre, but with a highly original approach. The premise places you on a space station adrift in deep space after a mysterious accident . Dr. Emma Fisher appears to be the sole survivor… at least on the surface.
What sets Observation apart is the role you play: you don't embody the astronaut, but SAM, the spacecraft's operating system. The entire experience unfolds through the station's security cameras and modules , switching perspectives and activating systems to help (or hinder) Dr. Fisher in her attempt to understand what has happened.
Instead of moving with a physical body, your "mobility" depends on switching between chambers, opening hatches, restoring connections, and controlling onboard devices. This mechanic, supported by a highly believable recreation of a microgravity science station , makes the player question what it truly means to leave the fate of a crew in the hands of artificial intelligence.
As the story unfolds, the game blurs the line between aid and threat, between security protocol and autonomous decision-making. Although Observation isn't directly based on NASA data, it draws on procedures, module designs, and operational challenges very similar to those of real stations , lending it a powerful sense of realism.
NASA and gaming: when playing is also research
NASA's relationship with video games isn't limited to collaborating on simulators or providing mapping data. For years, it has promoted citizen science projects in the form of games , where the user becomes an active participant in the research process.
One of the best-known examples is NeMO-Net. In this game, the player descends into virtual underwater environments to classify coral reefs . The 3D scenarios you explore aren't fictional: they come from real data captured by drones, aircraft, and specialized sensors developed by NASA itself.
As you play, you not only learn about coral types and their distribution, but your rankings are also used to train an artificial intelligence tasked with mapping the health of reefs on a global scale . In other words, each game contributes information that ultimately influences research on climate change and marine conservation.
Along the same lines is Planet Hunters (and similar projects), where what appears to be a "game" interface is actually a tool for analyzing raw data from space telescopes like WISE . Players observe light curves and patterns to identify celestial bodies that might have been missed by automated algorithms.
Thanks to initiatives like this, citizens from all over the world have contributed to the discovery of more than a hundred exoplanets and other celestial objects that automated systems had missed. All from the comfort of their own homes, with an experience that feels more playful than academic.
Beyond NASA: Other space games with a strong scientific basis
In addition to titles directly linked to data and projects from NASA or ESA, there are a good number of space video games that, without necessarily using official cartography, opt for coherent physics, plausible astronomical scales, and science-based gameplay systems.
In the realm of simulation, Elite Dangerous recreates the Milky Way at a near 1:1 scale, with over 400.000 billion star systems to explore, trade, or battle . While not built entirely from NASA data, many of its stars, nebulae, and regions are based on real-world catalogs, with the remainder generated procedurally.
X4: Foundations takes that approach to a more management-focused space: it allows you to build a galactic empire, control fleets, and design space stations within a coherent universe governed by consistent physical laws. Again, it doesn't directly use space agency databases, but it does offer a realistic approach to ship movement, orbits, and interstellar trade.
On the more open-ended side of exploration, No Man's Sky offers a virtually infinite universe where planets, flora, fauna, and spaceships are generated by mathematical algorithms and artificial intelligence , rather than being designed by hand one by one. While it isn't powered by NASA data, its procedural generation technology has ultimately influenced how large-scale maps are conceived in other science games.
Other titles like Astroneer, Outer Wilds, and Starfield explore ideas of colonization, time loops, and more narrative-driven exploration missions, often including fictionalized versions of real-world locations such as Earth, the Moon, or Mars . While they take more creative liberties, they still rely on recognizable scientific concepts to engage the player.
The generation that learned orbits with a controller in hand
This whole range of proposals has created something curious: an entire generation of space enthusiasts who have learned to attach modules, manage oxygen, plot orbits or land on other worlds by playing games rather than watching documentaries or reading technical books.
If today we're talking about colonizing Mars, many gamers have already been there virtually. They've built bases, managed resources, adjusted launch windows, and suffered re-entries that end in fireballs due to miscalculating the angle. And that leaves its mark: the language of orbits and delta-v is now part of the everyday vocabulary of many people who, otherwise, might never have even encountered space physics.
It's not unreasonable to imagine that more than one current astronaut grew up playing these games. Just as some airplane pilots took their first steps in home simulators, it's perfectly plausible that future NASA mission crew members honed their spatial intuition in Kerbal Space Program or similar simulators before setting foot in a training facility.
Ultimately, the convergence of missions like Artemis II, the rise of audiovisual productions about space, and the maturity of certain video games has created a perfect ecosystem. Anyone with a computer or console can experience things that, not so long ago, were reserved for a select few inside control centers and aluminum capsules . From managing critical systems on the Moon to helping discover exoplanets, space, more than ever, now fits on a screen.
