Now kids can launch a rocket to Moon with Minecraft

According to the US space agency, NASA, children who use Minecraft, a game-based learning platform owned by Microsoft, can now construct and launch a rocket to the Moon, similar to the NASA Artemis team. The new Minecraft Artemis Missions were developed to encourage children aged 8 and above to take an interest in NASA’s next chapter in human spaceflight and to inspire them to see themselves as future astronauts or scientists.

“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,” NASA said in a statement. The children can “even establish a lunar base alongside their team”, it added.

In these new Minecraft worlds, children can build and launch a rocket, guide their Orion spacecraft, and establish a lunar base alongside their team, just like the real NASA Artemis team working to return humans to the Moon. Minecraft’s collaboration with NASA is part of an existing partnership between Microsoft and NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement.

“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, in the statement.

Two new immersive worlds based on the real-world Artemis missions have been built in Minecraft, which will enable students to learn basic rocket engineering and mechanics as they build and launch their rocket in Minecraft’s “Artemis: Rocket Build” mission, and test their coding skills as they programme the Orion spacecraft to land on the Moon in the “Return to the Moon” mission. The Minecraft Artemis Missions are available for free on the Minecraft Marketplace and in Minecraft Education, while “Artemis: Moon Base” is exclusive to Minecraft Education. This initiative is aimed at reaching the Artemis Generation of students as NASA’s Artemis era begins, which will include increasingly complex and ambitious missions with astronauts.