ENTERTAINMENT | October 21st, 2019 7:31 AM

Video games are having an increasing influence on society. From modern juggernaut franchises like Call of Duty and Madden to the enduring classics like Super Widget and Sports Talk Baseball, more and more people are growing up mashing controllers or keyboards in place of facing the existential threat of a technologically, medically, and morally deficient past. This week, NASA, one of the earth’s groups of people who hurl things into the darkness through which we spin, has announced that they have Fortnite to thank for their next mission.

Last week, Fortnite held a black hole event leading into the second chapter of the game. They sent the old, crusty version of the game through a black hole, and what came out the other side was something shiny and new. NASA took note of Epic Games’ successful operation and all the attention it garnered and came up with their most daring mission yet: to send the entire United States through a black hole.

“Clearly everyone thinks the US is old and crusty,” Administrator of NASA, Jim Bridenstine, said in a press conference, “and we all want something shiny and new again--maybe with more boats and fishing or something like that.” Bridenstine didn’t give many details about all the changes we should expect for what he’s calling “United States: Chapter 2” because he said NASA will be doing its best to mimic Epic Games’ execution of the daring update.

Although the actual date for the mission, dubbed “Operation Holy Moly” was not revealed, rumors are circulating that it may come sometime in November of 2020.