Unless you literally live under a rock, chances are you’ve heard about the huge craze over the new game Pokémon GO. I haven’t downloaded it, but nearly all of my friends are playing it and keep raving about how fantastic and fun it is. They’ve been a lot more active and spent a lot more time outside — one friend even walked 17 miles last weekend just to keep advancing. I think that’s awesome, and if it motivates people to get moving, I’m all for it.

I’m not going to lecture about how dangerous Pokémon GO can be (when playing irresponsibly), because we’re all aware of the numerous accidents that have already occurred while people were playing the game. In one week, I’ve read stories about two men who fell off a cliff, a girl who got hit by a car, a guy who hit someone with his car and so much more. If people used their common sense while playing, then you wouldn’t have these problems, so that’s no fault of the game (in my opinion).

I know the saying “don’t knock it til you try it,” but I do have one problem with Pokémon GO that doesn’t really require me to download it. See, I work at NASA Johnson in Houston, Texas, and we’re the home of human spaceflight. Every day, I watch hundreds of visitors ride in on a tram to see some of America’s most historically important sites. They visit Rocket Park to see one of the three remaining Saturn V rockets, the rocket that took us to the moon. It’s currently the most powerful rocket ever built by man (soon to be surpassed by SLS). They visit Historic Mission Control, a national landmark for where the Apollo missions were commanded and where some of the first words from the moon, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed,” were directed. Sometimes they visit our current Mission Control Center, a room staffed 24/7, 365 days a year for the past 15+ years to keep our International Space Station flying some 250 miles above our heads. Needless to say, some pretty amazing things happen every day here, and it’s a real privilege to see it in action.

However, Pokémon GO apparently has some features at Mission Control and Rocket Park as well. Within those two locations, there are also Pokémon gyms where players can battle their opponents. These aren’t too hard to come by, but they still require you to actually go somewhere of significance to play. Kids and adults from across the country, most of which who probably planned their trip to NASA Johnson in advance of the release of Pokémon GO, are now at this monumental location to only have their faces illuminated by their phones instead of with the excitement of experiencing what only NASA can provide. Space exploration takes a backseat to Pokémon exploration. A literal out-of-this-world experience is surpassed by another out-of-this-world experience, because the virtual appeal has become greater than what is physically present. Maybe they’ll look up to snap a photo for Instagram in order to prove they were here, but it’s likely they won’t remember anything of their experience because they’re so focused on the game.

I’m know that Pokémon GO is an exciting game – otherwise, it wouldn’t be such a cultural phenomenon — and I know people are enjoying making connections and exploring new places, but we need to know when to stop. This can apply to every cellular app; we need to learn when to disconnect to appreciate and respect the time of others or the place we’re in. Because eventually, when this game fades out or your online profiles don’t matter, you’re going to want to remember your actual experience rather than whether or not you caught a Charmander.