Kids today grow up knowing how to use a computer and get around online, especially after this last year of Zoom classes and virtual school. And NASA wants to take their technology knowledge to the next level by encouraging them to learn to code at a young age with a new game.
NASA has designed a Code a Mars Helicopter Video Game for kids. There’s an interactive tutorial with step-by-step instructions for getting started. Then they’ll get to create a video game that lets them explore Mars with a helicopter, like the one on the red planet now. Kids will use Scratch, a visual programming language, to create the code and control the helicopter.
"The Mars helicopter is a technology demonstration mission designed to show that a small, lightweight helicopter can fly in the thin atmosphere of Mars," a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory representative explains in the instructions. “Success for game players can be the same as success for the Mars helicopter mission.” Players will know their mission was a success when the helicopter makes its first flight on Mars and can land it on the target.
Source: Moms.com
Photo: Getty Images