Last February Big Download broke the news that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was funding the development of an educational MMO project called Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond. While that game isn't due to be completed for some time NASA is apparently whipping up a mini-demo based on the game that will be released soon.

Titled Moonbase Alpha (we wonder if there are some fans of the Space: 1999 TV series at NASA) the demo will be released via Steam "just before or after January 2010." There is little info on what the demo will be all about but from this YouTube video we can guess that Moonbase Alpha will have the player controlling a spacesuit-wearing astronaut on the surface of Earth's moon doing various tasks.

[Via Massively]