NASA has made one giant leap for a national governmental agency: It's creating a roster of virtual items for a mobile-based scavenger hunt through Gowalla.

The two companies are working together to get more NASA-related information onto Gowalla and let users pick up virtual moon rocks, a NASA patch, a spacesuit and a space shuttle at various agency-related venues around the country. Users can earn these items during checkins and then swap, drop or store the items in their Gowalla vaults. NASA's social-media-loving astronaut, @Astro_Mike, will also be dropping items around the country.

When a user earns three of the special items (again, these are virtual goods), they can get a special NASA pin for their Gowalla passports. The first 100 users to get three items will also each get a real-world prize: A special edition map, entitled "Search for the Moon Rocks," designed by creative agency JESS3 and pictured below.

The moon rock items can be picked up anywhere real moon rocks from the Apollo missions are on display. The other items can be found at NASA's visitor centers and various science centers and planetariums that are part of the agency's Museum Alliance.

The game is a win-win for both parties. NASA gets fun incentives to generate foot traffic through its venues, and Gowalla gets a high-profile partnership with a fascinating organization.

Do you think this game could get you exploring space-related locations in a terrestrial environment? Would it inspire you to use Gowalla?