August 19, 2025, 7:28 am | Read time: 2 minutes
Did you know? Every year, NASA makes some of its programs available for free to everyone—including software that’s quite useful for everyday life. TECHBOOK reveals where the download is worthwhile.
First things first: Of course, NASA’s software is primarily intended for space exploration—a topic that likely plays little role in most people’s daily lives. Therefore, a large portion of the programs offered for free are nearly unusable without a physics degree or space training—but not all. TECHBOOK has sifted through the NASA catalog for you and found a few programs worth checking out.
Explore Alien Planets and Earth with NASA Programs
The software “Earth Global Reference Atmospheric Model” offers insight into the atmosphere of alien planets. With it, you can access data like temperature or pressure not only on Earth but also on Mars, Venus, Neptune, and Saturn’s moon Titan. The software “Worldview Imagery” also allows you to explore Earth, with current images from numerous NASA satellites updated every four hours.
The iOS app “HazPop” lets users sift through a constantly updated database that displays natural disasters worldwide, such as wildfires, storms, or earthquakes. Exciting: The app combines the data with population statistics in the relevant area to directly determine the number of affected people.
No joke: Whether you’re fit for a job at NASA or not is shown by the iPad program “Fine Motor Skills,” which lets you test your fine motor skills on the tablet’s touchpad—important if you work with prosthetics or robots at NASA.
NASA Also Offers Games
Yes, indeed, there are also small games in the NASA library: With “Station Spacewalk,” you simulate the repair of a space station in a 3D environment—and must act very carefully while constantly monitoring the oxygen level.
The apps presented are only a small selection—the software range with free programs is quite large. You can find the entire selection on a separate NASA website. Caution: Not every program can be downloaded in Germany—some applications are only available in the U.S.