NASA Space Voyagers: The Game

In this game, you’ll lead a mission to explore some of the most interesting environments in our solar system including the Moon, Mars, and Jupiter's moon Europa. Before getting started, read on to learn about some of the current and future NASA missions exploring the same destinations you will soon encounter with your fleet of spacecraft.

• NASA’s Artemis program calls for sending the first woman and next man to the surface of the Moon by 2024. It also seeks to establish a permanent and sustainable presence on the Moon. The agency will use what we learn on the Moon to prepare for humanity's next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars.
• On Mars, Perseverance, NASA's most advanced Mars rover to date, is taking the next steps in our exploration of the Red Planet. Only the fifth NASA rover to land on Mars, Perseverance is building on the work and scientific discoveries of its predecessors by searching for evidence of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet.
• In the near future, NASA plans to take its search for life even farther into the solar system to Jupiter's ocean moon Europa. This small moon contains more water beneath its icy shell than all of Earth's oceans combined. NASA's Europa Clipper mission, currently in development, is designed to orbit Europa, make up-close observations, and investigate whether the icy moon has conditions suitable for life.

About the image: From left to right: An artistic depiction of the Artemis program's Gateway space station; a selfie taken by the Perseverance rover on Mars; and an artistic depiction of the Europa Clipper spacecraft orbiting Jupiter's moon Europa. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech |

Print out the following on 8.5x11 paper or card stock:

• Starter Pack of game cards, double-sided (6 sheets of paper)
• (Optional) Ocean Worlds Expansion Pack, double-sided (1 sheet of paper).
• (Optional) Game mat, single-sided (6 sheets of paper)

Cut out the game cards.

If you're using the game mat, assemble it by taping together the pieces, as shown below. The mat includes a place for the deck, discard pile, and spacecraft.

+ Expand (top) image

The destination cards, such as the Moon or Mars, have an exploration value, or a number of points you will need to earn to complete your mission and win the game. Each round, you will roll the dice to determine which of the challenges on the destination card you must overcome.

Before you shuffle the rest of the cards, you may want to modify the deck to ensure that all cards are helpful to the environment you’re setting out to explore. A submersible won’t provide much help on the Moon, for example. Feel free to personalize your deck to ensure success.

Now, each player draws seven cards from the shuffled deck. Note: You can choose to replace up to two of your drawn cards.

Once all players have had a turn, it's time to end the round:

• Tally up the research value of any spacecraft and instruments used (tapped) in the round and subtract their research value from the destination's total.
• Now, the destination also gets a turn, and may cause damage to your spacecraft. Roll the dice to see what impacts there are to your spacecraft. Tally the damages by placing sticky notes, pennies, or other markers on applicable cards and removing those that reach zero durability. And subtract the value of any damages from each applicable spacecrafts’ durability. Note that:
  • Damages are permanent and cumulative as turns continue throughout the game.
  • Spacecraft that reach zero durability have failed and are removed from play.
  • Some spacecraft and instruments have special abilities that allow them to withstand damages, so be sure to read the cards carefully.
• When you're ready to start a new round, untap any resources or spacecraft you used the previous round.
• Damages are permanent and cumulative as turns continue throughout the game.
• Spacecraft that reach zero durability have failed and are removed from play.
• Some spacecraft and instruments have special abilities that allow them to withstand damages, so be sure to read the cards carefully.

To win the game, you must fully explore your destination (subtract the total research value) before running out of cards. Remember, playing with others will prove beneficial as your destinations get more advanced.