NASA’s game collaboration lets you steer asteroids without leaving home

Kerbal Space Program is the closest you’ll get to running a space agency. The game lets you build and launch everything from orbital stations to interplanetary explorers, all in the name of collecting scientific data. It’s only fitting, then, that the studio behind the title has teamed up with NASA to release its Asteroid Redirect Mission add-on. The patch gives you both equipment based on the Space Launch System as well as enough giant rocks to let you either mimic potential real-world missions or live out your Armageddon dreams. The KSPupgrade isn’t a completely faithful simulation by any means, but it’s realistic enough that it could help you appreciate the challenges of steering asteroids. If you’d like to see the software in action, you can check out the second video at about the 57-minute mark.