I’ve been a space reporter for 23 years and Starfield’s Constellation Edition is an epic Apollo-era treat (video)

The new game Starfield brought hundreds of strange new worlds within reach of gamers everywhere this season, but if you’re a space history fan like me, there’s a special treat just for you.

This week, space fans will celebrate the 54th anniversary of Apollo 12, which launched three astronauts to the moon in 1969, and Starfield’s Constellation Edition from Bethesda Games Studios is a clear homage to the legacy of NASA’s Apollo program. The special Starfield edition, which retails for $299.99 for either PC or XBox, comes in a sleek case reminiscent of vintage NASA gear and it’s not by accident. 

“We put so much detail into our game worlds and we love the opportunity to bring that into the real world with our collector’s editions,” Todd Howard, Bethesda game director and executive producer, said ahead of Starfield’s release.

Related: Is ‘Starfield’ a far-flung fantasy or a glimpse of mankind’s space-bound future?

Today’s best Starfield Constellation Edition deals

Howard and other Starfield developers have repeatedly referred to the game’s look and feel as “NASA-punk,” and nowhere is that more clear than in the Starfield Constellation Edition, the premiere collector’s edition or the game. Recently, Bethesda sent me one for Space.com to check out and review up close, and I can confirm that the NASA influence is unmistakable. 

The Constellation Edition includes a digital copy of Starfield (on a laser-etched credit stick like one found in-game) and the Constellation Explorer’s Watch (again, found in the game) packed inside a solid white case about the size of a small toaster oven — or space toaster oven, if you will — decorated in red and gold trim. 

The space age look comes from a design heavily influenced by NASA’s Apollo Lunar Sample Return Container, or ALSPRC — the secure rock box used by Apollo astronauts to bring lunar samples back to Earth. It has a heft to it that makes it feel like something I’d really see in space, but not so much that it takes up too much room on my shelf.  

“We really took as much care in the design of this case as we did the watch,” Istvan Pely, Starfield’s art director, said in a video. “Our attention to detail in the game totally translates to this.”

Related: ‘Starfield’ animated anthology introduces gamers to its inhabited planets (videos)

Image 1 of 4

The Starfield Constellation Edition fresh out of its box, with separate Steelbook collector’s casebook.(Image credit: Future/Tariq Malik/Space.com)A look inside the special Starfield Constellation case reveals a mission patch and the Constellation watch, a recreation of a tool used in game.(Image credit: Future/Tariq Malik/Space.com)This laser-etched credit stick, similar to one used for currency in Starfield, contained the digital download code for the game itself.(Image credit: Future/Tariq Malik/Space.com)A close-up look at the Constellation mission patch and the Constellation Explorer’s Watch inside the case, with extra strap.(Image credit: Future/Tariq Malik/Space.com)

The real-life space influences don’t end there. Inside, I found a mission patch for Constellation, your primary faction in the game, inspired by the mission patches used by astronauts on every spaceflight. It also seems like a nod to NASA’s scrapped Constellation program, the precursor of the current Artemis program, which from 2004 to 2009 aimed to return astronauts to the moon (much like Artemis does today). 

The mission patch is a nice touch that honors both past and present space tradition, while recognizing a notable in-game faction. The Constellation Edition also comes with a collector’s Steelbook emblazoned with Starfield livery, but there is no game disc inside (since the digital download code is on the credit stick). The edition does include access to Starfield’s first expansion DLC (downloadable content) Shattered Space, when it is released in the near future, as well as Old Skin Pack and Constellation Skin Pack in-game cosmetics.

The Starfield Constellation Edition game includes a digital game download, a black Steelbook display case, a Starfield Chronomark watch, a logo Constellation Patch. (Image credit: Bethesda)

I was curious how authentic the Starfield Constellation case was when compared with the real-life Apollo Lunar Sample Return Container, so I asked Robert Pearlman, a space historian and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com (and occasional Space.com contributor), how the game’s case stood up. 

“The case shares a passing resemblance to the Apollo Lunar Sample Return Container (ALSRC), or ‘rock box’ that the Apollo astronauts used to safely transport moon rocks and soil back to Earth,” Pearlman told me. “The ALSRC had a bare metal finish, rather than a white exterior, but did have metal straps and a front-facing locking mechanism that operated similarly to the one on the Starfield Constellation Edition case.”

The locking mechanism, I should say, is unique. By rotating a center knob, two metal rods unlatch the case so you can open the case.  It does feel very space-y, for sure. However, the Starfield case, at about 7 inches wide, 3.5 inches tall, by 9.5 inches long (18 cm x 9 cm x 24 cm), is smaller than its Apollo counterpart.

This silver Apollo Lunar Sample Return Container was used to carry moon rocks back to Earth by astronauts on NASA’s Apollo 12 mission in November 1969. (Image credit: Air and Space Museum/NASA/CCO – Creative Commons (CCO 1.0))

“The ALSRC was larger (measuring close to 2 feet long and weighing 20 pounds) and was lined with an aluminum mesh,” Pearlman said. “The Starfield case trades out the protective padding for form fitted inserts to hold the watch and patch.”

During Apollo 12, NASA astronauts Pete Conrad, Alan Bean and Richard Gordon launched to the moon on Nov. 14, 1969, with Conrad and Bean landing on the lunar surface on Nov. 19. The two moonwalkers collected about 70 pounds (32 kilograms) of moon rock and dust samples and 15 pounds (7 kg) of other lunar samples during their nearly 32-hour stay on the lunar surface, according to NASA. 

Gordon, meanwhile, orbited overhead in their Command Module. One of the ALSRC boxes used on that mission, made by the company Union Carbide, is currently in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum collection in Washington, D.C.

“While not a replica, the Starfield Constellation edition case is a nice tribute to the ALSRC,” Pearlman said. The Apollo 12 astronauts returned to Earth on Nov. 24, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.  

I haven’t had a chance to play Starfield itself yet, but there are clear NASA nods in what I’ve seen so far. The major planet Jemison is an obvious homage to former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to fly in space, and the space agency’s Mars rovers and Apollo spacecraft and landers appeared in trailers for the game. 

In late summer, I actually built a new gaming PC just to be able to play Starfield, and while the frenetic pace of real-life space exploration has kept me busy since the game’s Sept. 6 release, I look forward to launching into its digital cosmos soon. 

If you’re searching for more suggestions on the best games set in the final frontier, you can read through our best space horror games and best alien invasion games ranked lists. For picks based on sci-fi franchises, check out our best “Alien,” “Star Trek,” “Star Wars,” and “Warhammer 40K” games of all time.

Today’s best Starfield deals