New NASA Game: Extreme Planet Makeover, Gliese 581d Edition
Planet Makeover A modified version of Gliese 581d. NASA/JPL Scientists are on the hunt for exo-Earths, distant cousins of our planet that are just the right distance from their stars to harbor liquid water and other ingredients for life. But even with plenty of data and some educated guesses, no one will ever see what these faraway worlds look like, so we're left with the creative concepts of NASA artists. NASA's new interactive game lets you use your own imagination to build a habitable planet. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, home to some of the most creative digital artists in the country, has a new interactive game that lets you build an exoplanet, using pre-sets for Mars, Earth and Gliese 581d, a rocky super-Earth about 20 light-years away. By messing with the planets' size, age and distance to their stars, among other factors, you can learn interesting lessons about planetary science, namely...