A Moon or Mars mission game · ages 7–12
Junior Astronaut Mission Trainer
You are in charge of a crew on the Moon or Mars! Help them solve a new problem each day. Every choice helps something and costs something else. Keep your crew safe for as many days as you can.
Right now in space
LIVE · from NASA · last 3 days
Asking NASA what the Sun is doing…
TODAY · worked out from NASA's planet maps
Measuring the distance to Mars…
How to play
Your goal: survive as long as you can. There is no last day to reach—each new day is another chance to make a good choice.
STEP 1
Choose your space home
Press Start a mission. Pick a Moon base or a Mars base. The Moon is closer to Earth. Mars is farther away and has dust storms.
STEP 2
Choose your Sun days
Pick Today's Sun for recent NASA records, Surprise me for a random set, or a saved famous storm. These are real records of what the Sun did, not made-up storms.
STEP 3
Pack two boxes
Choose two supply boxes for your crew. Read what each box helps with. You cannot take every box! When you have picked two, press Blast off.
STEP 4
Read the day's problem
Your crew will tell you what happened. Maybe dust is covering the power panels, or air is leaking. Look at your four supply bars before deciding.
STEP 5
Pick one of two choices
Read You give up and You get for BOTH choices. Each choice helps in one way but costs something else. You can always pick either one. Choose what your crew needs most.
STEP 6
See what happens and keep going
Read what happened after your choice. Press Continue to see how your supplies changed that day, then move to the next day. Try to keep your crew safe for as many days as you can!
Watch your four supply bars
All four start at 100%. That means they are full. Your choices and the base's daily needs can make them go down or fill back up, but never above 100%.
- Air
- The air your crew needs to breathe.
- Food
- The meals your crew needs to eat.
- Power
- The stored energy that keeps your base's machines working.
- Radiation safety
- How much protection your crew has left from harmful space rays. Water walls help protect them.
If ANY bar reaches 0%, your mission ends. Try again and see if different choices help you last longer!
Want to read the NASA facts? You can visit NASA Data and return to Play without losing your mission on this browser. Restart mission lets you start over—it asks you first.
Every choice gives and takes
There is not always a perfect answer. For example, putting power panels away protects them from dust, but they cannot collect sunlight while packed away. Look at what your crew has left before you choose.
- Repairing an air leak⇄air used during the repair
- Folding panels away from dust⇄no sunlight power that day
- Going outside to clean the panels⇄spacesuit air + radiation outside
- Hiding from a Sun storm⇄less food grown that day