NASA game

NASA game

Type:	discussion game, brain game
Number of players:	arbitrary
Location:	everywhere
Equipment:	paper, pen
Duration:	30-60 minutes
Preparation:	none

The NASA game (or: space game) is a discussion game for groups of any size. The players have to find out what equipment would be needed if astronauts got lost on the moon. It is often played in several phases, when the solution is first found by each player individually, and then discussed by larger groups, until a joint solution of all players is found.

Required equipment

• Each player needs a sheet of paper and a pen.

Procedure

Story

You are part of a NASA mission to the moon. Your space craft crashes. You survive, but you are 200 miles from a rescue craft. Your current position is on the day side of the moon. From the stuff on your spacecraft, you can take 15 working parts. Decide, might be most useful to you, and order the stuff according to that. Each part will get a number, 1 for the most important equipment, 15 for the least important one.

Equipment

• First aid set
• parachute silk (or nylon)
• compact heating device
• emergency rations (food)
• magnetic compass
• nylon rope
• two handguns
• self-inflating life raft
• oxygen container
• signal flare
• map of the moon
• matches
• 20 liters of water
• powdered milk
• radio transmitter (send/receive)

the game

Each player has to sort his equipment by importance. For each device, he can give a number between 1 (most important) and 15 (least important); each number can be used only once.

Then, the players are put together in groups to discuss their solutions. Each group has to decide on a joint solution. Of course, the groups should find a consensus by discussion, not just a trade-off of the individual solutions. Often, groups that discuss the solution with good arguments finally reach a better solution than other groups.

suggested "correct" solution

This solution was (allegedly) presented by specialists of the NASA.

1. oxygen

   necessary to survive

2. drinking water

   important to survive

3. map of the moon

   Important for navigation

4. emergency rations

   Food is important for the body, but less so than oxygen and water

5. radio transmitter

   Might allow communication with the rescue craft

6. nylon rope

   several possible appliances (pulling equipment, climbing, etc.)

7. first aid set

   important in case of an emergency

8. parachute silk

   can be used as sun protection (remember, there is no atmosphere on the moon)

9. self-inflating life raft

   CO₂ containers might be useful for propulsion

10. signal flare

    might be used to alert other astronauts

11. handguns

    might be used for propulsion

12. powdered milk

    nourishment

13. heating device

    not necessary on the sun-facing side of the sun (but it will get night sometime)

14. magnetic compass

    does not work on the moon, there is no magnetic field

15. matches

    do not work on the moon, there is no oxygen

Similar games

• The game maritime emergency is quite similar, only the situation is changed.