Educational Gaming Commons - Press Start

Would you play a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game designed to teach you about space travel, gravity, and all things space-related? NASA seems to think people would play such a game. From the article:

NASA hopes to draw people in by letting them “tinker with chemical reactions in living cells, practice operating and repairing expensive equipment, and experience microgravity” in a simulated virtual reality of an MMO. The knowlege they aquire in play can help them with strategic thinking, interpretative analysis, problem solving, plan formulation and execution, team-building and cooperation, and adaptation to rapid change that can be translated to real life job skills.

This seems very similar to what Whyville is trying to do with their virtual world aimed at kids.