5 hrs.

Winda Benedetti

It may not seem like the serious interplanetary science being done by NASA and theentertainmentprovided by video games would have much in common, but a team from NASA'sJet Propulsion Laboratory says that, more and morethese days, the two go hand in hand.

During the Penny Arcade Expothis weekend, a team fromNASA told a packed audience of video game enthusiaststhat the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is not only using game technology to help the rest of us earthlings get an up close look at the latest mission to Mars, but it's also using game tech tobettercontrol NASA's robots and rovers.

In fact, Jeff Norris,manager ofthe Planning and Execution Systems Section at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,says he believes video games are key to how humans will explore space in the future.

"We are using the technology behind games and games as a platform themselves to really revitalize and change the way we are exploring space and sharing it with everyone," Norris said.

The Penny Arcade Expo (aka PAX)is aconvention that celebrates all things gaming anddraws some 70,000 gamers to Seattle each year. The team from NASA -- gamers themselves -- kicked off their PAXpresentation with a demonstration of the newXbox 360 game called"Mars Rover Landing" which, as the name suggests, challenges players to try to land a virtual version of the Curiosity rover on the red planet using a Kinect sensor and themovements of their body. (Read more about the game here.)

"This is a pretty big step for our agency," Norris said of the game. "We're embaracing the idea that games have become a really important medium for communicating our mission to everybody."

Norrisand his team also showed off other game-like experiences they've designed to give us earthbound explorers a closer look at Mars from the comforts of our own home computers.

The "Gale Crater" interactive experience -- which was created using real satellite data from Mars --lets players get an an up-closeview of the Red Planetlocale where the rover will spend the years to come.And those who want to see Curiosity's rocker-bogiesuspension system at work cancheck out the "Free Drive" game, whichlets players run a virtual version of the bare-bones rover throughout Gale Crater's terrain. (These games can be played for free right here.)

The rest is here:

Video games help NASA control robots, rovers