NASA has announced that they’re working with the Kerbal Space Program to promote the real life mission that they have planned for the year 2025.

NASA is planning to take a manned spacecraft to an asteroid by the year 2025, but before the real world equivalent of it launches, they want to promote it in the highly realistic space simulator Kerbal Space Program. The mission itself tasks players with flying alongside an asteroid and then pushing it into the orbit of the home planet of the Kerbal race, Kerbin.

After managing to push the asteroid into Kerbin’s orbit, so long as you don’t push it too far inward (causing it to be pulled into the planet’s atmosphere, causing a catastrophe), you then proceed to land on the asteroid – probably to mine it and gather resources for future projects.

Kerbal Space Program creator Felipe Falanghe had this to say regarding the collaboration:

“I look up to NASA as one of the pinnacles of human achievement. It’s not just an American space program. It’s an inspiration for all mankind.”

There is no release window for this project, but it is confirmed to be a free mission whenever it is finished.