Space Apps Challenge 2017
NASA is on a mission to foster innovation through a diversity of perspectives and is encouraging global citizens to come together to solve perplexing problems faced by NASA Scientists on a daily basis.
The Space Apps Challenge was one of the largest hackathons in the universe and part of the NASA’s Open Innovation Programme.
For 48 hours, passionate innovators and problem solvers from all over the world were welcomed to join the Space Apps Challenge, and create solutions that will be part of the next generation of space technology!
Challenges
The Earth and Us
Planetary Blues
Warning! Danger Ahead!
Our Ecological Neighbourhood
Ideate and Create!
Key Dates
Pre-Hackathon Workshop
Thursday, 20 April
Participants learned about the challenge areas from the experts and start thinking about your solution to address them!
Space Apps Challenge
Saturday - Sunday, 29 - 30 April
Participants created their solutions, spoke with expert mentors, pitched to a panel of judges, and stood to win a chance to represent Singapore!
Prizes
Global Nominee x 2
People's Choice Award
Organisers
Supporting Partner
Venue Partner
Challenges
The Earth and Us
A) Let’s go to the Beach!: Build a tool for beach-goers to monitor for hazards and to alert them of precautionary measures for protection on their swim- and surf-filled adventures!
B) You are my Sunshine: Create a medium to help people understand energy output from a solar panel, and a tool to plan energy consumption based on expected energy output from solar technologies.
C) What’s for Dinner?: Map the life cycle of your favorite food product or dish, and put on your chef’s hat to create its most environmentally sustainable version!
D) Live Smart: Evaluate environmental, social, and economic data to design tools and plan blueprints for smart and connected rural and urban settlements.
E) Pilots Plus: Provide private aircraft pilots and passengers with an easy-to-use tool that gives information about the land underneath their flight plans.
NASA Earth Science uses space-borne and aircraft measurements to help us characterize, understand, and predict variability and trends in Earth’s system for both research and specific applications. As our only known habitat, this planet — including its phenomena like climate and weather, and natural resources like forests and oceans — influences all aspects of our lives.
NASA Earth Science data and products allow us to understand our home planet and its response to natural or human-induced changes, which helps us make informed decisions to enhance our lives.
Planetary Blues
A) Where’s the Water?: Use satellite and other data to allow farmers, landowners, and land managers in your locale to identify and visualize water resources in their surroundings.
B) Icy Polar Opposites: Design a data analysis and/or visualization tool to show the spatial and temporal changes in Arctic and Antarctic ice to a general audience.
C) Icy Polar Opposites: Design a data analysis and/or visualization tool to show the spatial and temporal changes in Arctic and Antarctic ice to a general audience.
D) Water, Water, Everywhere!: Develop a tool that provides emergency management personnel with an up-to-date flood-risk map for an area of interest.
E) The Arctic Game: Design a mobile game that helps document the local Arctic environment by crowdsourcing photos and information, while enhancing intercultural and intergenerational learning in the Inupiaq communities.
Making up roughly 60% of the mass of our bodies and over 70% percent of the surface of the Earth, liquid and frozen water are naturally of interest to NASA as we search for water and life on other planets, and try to meet the increasing demands for freshwater here on Earth.
NASA Earth Science data and products allow us to better manage water quality and quantity, and to predict processes of the global water cycle.
Warning! Danger Ahead!
A) When Landslides Strike: Design an easy-to-use tool to allow the public to discover and understand landslide data, and to contribute their own observations for use by emergency managers.
B) And YOU can Help Fight Fires!: Build a fire-monitoring and crowdsourcing tool that will allow local fire managers to respond to wildfires.
C) Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!: Calculate and visualize the radiation exposure for an actual or hypothetical polar, or near-polar flight!
D) Every Cloud: Map severe weather conditions with the presence of local atmospheric aerosols to identify potential connections!
Natural disasters, like wildfires, earthquakes, and landslides, wreak havoc on the lives of people all over the world every year. Additionally, many natural phenomena bring with them increased risks of deaths and illnesses from exposure to hazardous chemicals and pollutants, and the spread of communicable diseases.
NASA’s Earth observations allow improved understanding and forecasting, and thus, better preparation for and response to these threats.
Our Ecological Neighbourhood
A) Migratory Travels and Travel Stories: Pick a migratory species of your choice and build a tool that shows the distribution of their available habitats, and track their sightings in real time!
B) Our Planet, Our Home: Compare NASA Earth science data with data about people and tell your own story of human-environment interactions!
C) Trace Invaders: Develop a tool to trace invasive species in your neighborhood over time!
D) Where the Genes Flow: Map and compare population genetics of a species with landscape features, climate conditions, and human activities in a region to identify potential barriers or facilitators to gene migration and local adaptation.
NASA conducts explorations in search of life not only on other planets, but also to understand life right here on our home planet. The 18 Earth Science missions that orbit the Earth reveal clues about the environments and species that make up our ecological neighborhood, and help us answer questions about our biosphere.
Ideate and Create!
A) Space Jockey: Build a tool that allows a user to virtually experience riding on any one of NASA’s current Earth observing satellites and allow for co-localization of data from various instruments.
B) Dictionary of Earth: Develop a creative way for the public and scientists alike to learn the definitions of Earth-related scientific and technical terms, using the power of crowdsourcing.
C) Earth is Cool!: Make a video to tell your story of how “Earth is cool!”
E) 1D, 2D, 3D — Go!: Create tools that visualize Earth science missions and their data in three dimensions!
F) Small Spaces, Big Ideas!: Create crew-friendly designs for a habitat and/or its multi-use furniture, to be used for isolation studies on Earth that are researching the environmental and human dimensions of life on another planet.
G) Requesting a NASA Flyby!: Develop visualizations to provide NASA with new insights into airborne flights missions.
H) Data Concierge: Develop an artificial intelligence tool to help Earth science data users and enthusiasts find datasets and resources of interest!
Reaching out to the farthest expanses of our universe and diving deep to understand the mysteries of our own planet would not be possible without the innovative and creative spirit of explorers! NASA Earth Science channels the imagination of scientists, engineers, and storytellers like YOU to solve challenges that we face here on Earth.