Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This cartridge for the Atari 2600 video game console allowed players to compete at Asteroids, one of Atari, Inc.'s best-selling games. Atari, Inc. was incorporated in California in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Asteroids was developed by Atari staff, particularly Lyle Rains and Ed Logg, as a game that allowed players to destroy asteroids and flying saucers with a triangular ship that the player controls. Asteroids was originally released in 1979 and has been re-released on several platforms and gaming systems. As such, this popular video game represents one of the ways that the public has come to understand (or misunderstand) the astronomical phenomena of asteroids through popular culture.

Samantha Thompson donated the game cartridge to the Smithsonian in 2020.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Date 1981 Country of Origin United States of America Type MEMORABILIA-Popular Culture Manufacturer Atari, Inc.
 Dimensions 3-D (Game Cartridge): 9.8 × 8.3 × 1.9cm (3 7/8 × 3 1/4 × 3/4 in.)
 Materials Plastic
Ink
Adhesive
 Inventory Number A20220145000 Credit Line Gift of Samantha M. Thompson Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.