 For example, skipping a manned lunar orbital mission would cause a safety penalty to all mission steps during a Moon landing mission.Play begins in spring of 1957 and proceeds with turns lasting six months each for up to 20 years to the end of 1977, or until the first player successfully conducts a manned Moon landing, or until one player is dismissed from his/her program (this happens rarely, and only to a human player who is essentially doing nothing).At the start of each turn, the game randomly chooses an "event card" to give the player, usually with a piece of historical information, and sometimes with positive or negative effects on the game.