“Satellite Insight” was created for the GOES-R mission (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, R series), under development at Goddard Space Flight Center as a joint NASA and NOAA effort. Educational as well as entertaining, the game challenges players to keep up with the stream of data from GOES-R’s six main instruments.

Colored blocks falling into columns on a grid represent small pieces of data. To save lives and protect expensive instruments, the GOES-R weather satellite must not lose any data. Users bundle like data types together by tapping to select three or more contiguous same-colored blocks, then tap on the GOES-R satellite to store the data before the grid overflows. Data blocks fall slowly at first, but arrive faster as the game continues. Each speed-up also brings a power-up tool players can use at any time to help clear the grid. They keep the game going as long as they can and try to beat their best time.

The game builds awareness of this important technical resource that most people never hear about. The game instructions also include basic information about GOES-R and geostationary orbits, as well as links to The Space Place, the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s website for elementary school kids; and SciJinks, the website about weather and Earth science for middle-school kids jointly sponsored by NASA and NOAA.