Reach Asteroids Using a Deck of Cards

Everywhere, you can find someone who has play cards. It’s a fun way to interact with your family, friends, and colleagues through a variety of games. The standard deck, which is divided into 4 suits, originated from a mix of Spanish and French versions, but it actually originated in China centuries ago and made its way to Europe through the Arabs.

Even today, new play card games are being created, offering exciting strategies and relying on the luck of the players. Many of these games can also be adapted for educational purposes, including teaching about asteroids. Not only do they teach about probability and risk, but they also provide knowledge about the distances of asteroids from Earth and their distribution in the solar system. It’s a simple game that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Rules
The aim is to reach asteroids at varying distances. Check out the table below for the distances to the asteroid targets for space missions. The approximate distance will determine the number of cards representing the path you need to take. You have to guess whether the next card has a higher or lower value than the previous one.

Targets of the game

Let’s pick an asteroid to target, like 951 Gaspra. According to the table, it’s about 7 cards away from us.

Now, let’s shuffle the deck of cards, making sure they’re all facing down. Take one card and flip it over to represent Earth, where we start our journey. Lay down the number of cards equal to the distance from the asteroid. So, in this case, after the Earth card, we’ll lay down 7 more cards facing down. Here’s a visual example:

First step of the game

You should guess if the next card is higher or lower than the one before. If you mess up, game over. If you’re right, you have to keep going with the sequence. If you keep getting it right until the last card, you’ve done it! And if, at any point, the next card is the same value, you can keep going.

Demo
Alright, let’s give it a shot and simulate our journey to the asteroid Didymos. First, we need to look at the table and see that we’ll need 3 cards to represent the path to Didymos. Once we’ve shuffled the deck, we’ll flip over one card and then place a row of 3 cards face down. Here’s how they’ll be arranged:

Second step of the game

So, the first card we got is a 10 of hearts, symbolising Earth. Now comes the risky part: the player has to bet that the next card will be less than 10. And guess what? The player turns it over and bam! It’s a 4 of clubs! This means they can keep on playing.

Third step of the game

Then the player goes: “Hey, the next card is gonna be even greater than a 4.” And when they flip it over, it’s a shiny 6 of diamonds! Now they can finally reach the last card and complete their journey to the asteroid.

Fourth step of the game

Finally, the player decides to take a little gamble and claims that the next card is going to be higher in value. And guess what? When they reveal it, it’s actually an 8 of spades! So yes, their trip to Didymos turned out to be pretty successful!

Final step of the game

The Space Reference and The Sky Live websites are good tools for looking for asteroids that are not in the table. Distances are usually reported in AU, which equals about 150 million km.
Each playcard is equivalent to 25 million km travelled and you can adjust it as you wish. In this example, asteroids with distances smaller than 25 million km will only need 1 card to reach them.
Organise an exciting tournament by registering it on our webpage and let us know how many players managed to reach the asteroids!

See also:
Hangman Game: Asteroid Version