NASA is first and foremost a cosmic photographer and pioneering aerospace researcher, but it's also a fan of Bethesda. At least, that's how it would seem after a brief interaction between the US space agency and the official Starfield Twitter account.
Professional astronomers and casual enthusiasts of stunning cosmic images have been collectively impressed recently, after NASA released several stunning color images from the James Webb Space Telescope. The Starfield Twitter account was among them, retweeting an image that showed our distant universe in unprecedented detail.
NASA followed up in the same way, replying to the tweet with a link to the full gallery of images (opens in a new tab), along with an appropriate quote from an old Bethesda game. Even longtime fans of the studio may have a hard time recognizing this one:
"We've heard before that 'the sky is marked with countless sparks, each a fire and each a signal,'" NASA tweeted (opens in a new tab), followed by a winking emoji.
The space is beautiful. We can't wait to see what's out there... 🌌 #UnfoldTheUniverse https://t.co/HSr2U6wd0rJuly 12, 2022
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NASA knows what it's doing
It's definitely a deep cut. The line is spoken by Emperor Uriel Septim VII during the opening tutorial mission in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. After going through a series of underground tunnels to protect the Emperor from assassins, he stops for a brief chat. This is where the quote comes in.
"I have served the Nine all my days and plot my path according to the cycles of the heavens," Uriel tells the player. “The heavens are marked with innumerable sparks, each a fire and each a sign. I know these stars well, and I wonder... what sign marked your birth?
It serves as a useful transition to the final part of Oblivion's character creation menu, when you choose your character's birth sign to gain new perks and abilities. It's also pretty minor, and more of a passing comment than a darling quote. Whoever manages NASA's social media accounts must really love Oblivion.
It's pretty weird to see NASA interact with a video game studio. It's not often that the worlds of federal space exploration and fantasy RPGs collide, but it's quite fitting. Bethesda previously said it drew ideas from contemporary space agencies to create Starfield, borrowing ideas from SpaceX to design the look and feel of its sci-fi setting. The game's art direction was also previously described as "NASA-punk". Perhaps one day we will see Starfield play aboard the ISS.