Overview: Angry Birds Space Launching 3/22/12

Angry Birds Space is coming! Official launch will be March 22 supporting iOS, Android, PC, and Mac devices. Were excited about the new Angry Birds edition that will literally be out of this world? Rovio has enlisted the help of the people who know outer space best, NASA, to help demonstrate the challenges players can expect in the new Angry Birds Space‘s gameplay.

In a YouTube promotional video, NASA astronaut Don Pettit explain the physics of Angry Birds Space.

“I’ve got my Angry Bird here, but we need a pig,” he says before blowing up a green balloon and drawing a cartoon swine face onto his air-filled rubber bag. “I’m not very good at art.” It’s okay, Mr. Pettit. Who needs to be good at art when you’re an astronaut?

Pettit also lets go of the bird he was holding to show how the object flies around the air without force. He goes on to fling the bird from a makeshift slingshot, making it relatively clear how gravity will throw the birds out of whack. The trajectory paths will not be anything like we’re used to in the earlier versions of the game, and the birds will no longer fly in a somewhat straight curve in space. In the last few seconds of the video, you’ll be able to see how the setup of the levels shifts gravitational pulls in various sections of the stage due to existing planets. Other parts of the game will have zero-gravitation pull without the help of outside forces.

Angry Birds has always been regarded as an addictive but somewhat education game which forces the player to think about the physics involved in successfully completing each stage. The inclusion of this new space integration will further educate the average person how gravity changes motion, even if in an unrealistic setting of a world where birds and pigs don’t seem to get along.

“Games are fun and entertaining, but they also can be inspirational and informative,” David Weaver, a communications representative for NASA, said in a statement. “This ongoing collaboration with Rovio and Angry Birds is an exciting way to get people engaged with NASA’s missions of exploration and discovery, and get students energised about future careers in science and technology.”

All three versions of Angry Birds recently made the top 25 list of Apple’s most downloaded apps of all time. Angry Birds Space will be available on March 22 in Android, iOS, Mac and PC.