This puzzle is a replica of the original Asteroids game released by Atari in 1979 with three modifications:
The asteroids that get special scoring are chosen by their number in the order in which asteroids are destroyed, such that regardless of which asteroid is hit 6th, it will have a special score. The special score is the same, regardless of asteroid size.
The special scores are ID numbers for asteroids in the JPL Small-Body Database (example). The difference between specially-scored asteroids is the index into that asteroid name.
Letters appear at the bottom of the screen as the game progresses, spelling ORDER BY SEMIMAJOR AXIS
. Ordering the asteroids for a full game by the semi-major axes of their orbits produces ANSWER LASER BEAM
.
Asteroid Name | Asteroid Number | Semimajor Axis (AU) | Index | Letter |
---|---|---|---|---|
Akhenaten | 326290 | 0.879 | 6 | A |
Munroe | 4942 | 2.201 | 3 | N |
Torvalds | 9793 | 2.255 | 8 | S |
Linshuhow | 316020 | 2.279 | 9 | W |
Simon-Garfunkel | 91287 | 2.289 | 13 | E |
Braille | 9969 | 2.341 | 2 | R |
Stallman | 9882 | 2.393 | 4 | L |
Lillianchin | 28557 | 2.401 | 6 | A |
Jonstewart | 116939 | 2.407 | 4 | S |
James Bond | 9007 | 2.473 | 4 | E |
Arthurdent | 18610 | 2.548 | 2 | R |
Hammurabi | 7207 | 2.577 | 8 | B |
Kenreimonin | 5242 | 2.801 | 2 | E |
Steinhardt | 201751 | 2.805 | 7 | A |
Morganfreeman | 224693 | 3.078 | 1 | M |