Image attribution: By SpaceX [CC0 or CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
Choose your challenge category: Outer Space, Earth, Humans, or Robotics.
At the SpaceAppsChallenge Home Page menu, upper left, click “Challenge” to see the various challenges. You will reach this page, to select a category and proceed to the challenge of your choice within that category.
Our challenges list, below, may assist you to avoid the time sink of navigating through various web pages. Instead, you could get started on formulating your project. However, if you have enough time, it will likely be of interest to explore many options. (Or, if you feel well-informed, it is possible to explore none, and see what happens at the time of the event.)
Once you have seen the challenges, if you click “Project” on the upper left menu, you will reach this page. If you then expand the menu under each project, you will see projects within those challenges that individuals and teams have already proposed. Some project summaries identify what type of member the team needs, and what resources the team hopes to utilize.
Seeing all challenges on one page feels like reading a “cheatsheet.”
In reading this list, please be aware that it is possible to propose a project that does not fit within the official challenges.
Category 1 of 4: Outer Space
Outer Space Challenge 1. 3-2-1 LIFTOFF: Launch that Rocket!
Develop an experience that captures all the variables involved with making the launch decision.
Outer Space Challenge 2. Airburst Data Visualization 2015
Create a way of visualizing the threat of atmospheric airbursts using newly released data gathered in the Bolide study. Build on any open source solutions you find, or create your own.
Outer Space Challenge 3. Asteroids 2025-2100 – Future History 2015
NASA is looking for creative ways to show the value of asteroids as a destination for exploration that are just as valuable as the Moon and Mars in terms of developing space infrastructure, as they have no gravity well.
Outer Space Challenge 4. Create Your Own Asteroid Mission
Develop an asteroid mission and design the spacecraft. Implement the spacecraft and mission with the space flight simulator. Simulate the mission and identify future improvements for the simulation.
Outer Space Challenge 5. Deep Space CamSat 2015
Design and model a feasibility demonstrator of a nano-satellite (e.g. cubesat) that can orbit and take pictures of deep space spacecraft during events of interest, e.g. planetary flybys.
Outer Space Challenge 6. Happy Moments From Space 2015
This challenge aims at developing an application to send congratulation messages personalized for the recipient with images from space sensors stored in the science archives.
Outer Space Challenge 7. Neuromorphic Studies of Asteroid Imagery 2015
We want you to design an automated mechanism for processing photometric studies of Asteroids (i.e. Light curves) using computer vision, pattern recognition or neuromorphic technologies.
Outer Space Challenge 8. Robotic Observatory 2015
Develop software applications and scripts that make an open hardware robotic observatory a souped-up Asteroid Hunting Machine.
Outer Space Challenge 9. Transient Watch – Daily News on Active Neutron Stars and Black Holes on Your Mobile Phone 2015
Develop a mobile phone app to provide interested astronomers with ‘daily news’ on the transient high-energy sky, based on information available from public pages at NASA, the European Space Agency, the Japanese Space Agency, etc.
Outer Space Challenge 10. Visualize the Asteroid Skies 2015
Create data aggregators and visualizations of asteroid data in meaningful ways that can educate the public about the need to explore asteroids and protect the Earth from them.
Category 2 of 4: Earth
Earth Challenge 1. Clean Water Mapping
The challenge is to improve mapping of drinking water resources. This could include development of a crowdsourcing app to monitor and map: potable water availability (well/stream/reservoir levels as measured by local people/ organizations), water quality,
Earth Challenge 2. Crop Alert – Learning From the Growers 2015
Develop a mobile/web app/SMS capability to help growers who face challenges from crop pests and diseases.
Earth Challenge 3. Food Directions 2015
This is a challenge to identify and visualize the current capacity and potential of countries to be self-sufficient in the provision of food for their populations, and to map how current global food needs are met through reliance on international food tra
Earth Challenge 4. Forest Monitor Mapping 2015
This challenge asks you to enable crowdsourced local data to contribute to assessments of land cover change and the contributing factors.
Earth Challenge 5. Leaf Me Alone 2015
Develop a tool to quantify and classify the amount of injury to the individual leaves of ozone-sensitive plants.
Earth Challenge 6. My Sky Color 2015
Create a tool that lets people record the color of the sky using consistent and qualitative standards at a specific location.
Earth Challenge 7. Open-source Air Traffic Tracking 2015
The challenge is to build an open-source air traffic tracking tool that allows users to select a particular flight and see out-the-window or other views of the aircraft and airspace.
Earth Challenge 8. Stream Gazer 2015
Animate or visualize changes in streamflow across the US through time on a GIS layer of the stream and river network.
Earth Challenge 9. Volcanoes, Icebergs, and Cats from Space 2015
We need you to develop an app to crowdsource the discovery of “interesting” natural events as observed from space using data from NASA’s Earth observation satellites
Category 3 of 4: Humans
Humans Challenge 1. 3D AstroMed Devices
We need your help modeling medical devices that will not only be useful in space but also for remote health medicine situations on Earth.
Humans Challenge 2. Bodies in Spacey Motion 2015
Develop an experience where motion is an input from a player as they try to complete space related tasks, such as: an off Earth astronaut on the International Space Station, Mars, Moon or other bodies performing exploration, research, and maintenance task
Humans Challenge 3. Can You Hear Me Now? Space-y Sounds 2015
Develop an interactive tool to leverage NASA audio files from space missions in new and innovative ways, from arts and entertainment to science and engineering. Your solution could be a new audio capability or platform to feature, consume, enhance, or alt
Humans Challenge 4. Data Treasure Hunting 2015
Devise a clever way to discover good keywords to describe the potential, hidden, secondary uses of NASA’s open data.
Humans Challenge 5. Fit as a MOoSE: Metabolic Observations of Space Explorers 2015
Develop a citizen science tool that ties astronaut health onboard the International Space Station and to health and exercise options on Earth.
Humans Challenge 6. Friends In High Places 2015
We’d love for you to create or enhance an interactive app, both by visualizing the data gathered while Samantha has been in orbit, i.e. all the waves and greetings from Earth as she orbits over head.
Humans Challenge 7. Print Your Own Space Food 2015
Think Food Replicators, from an early sci-fi show. Investigate the benefits and feasibility of allowing astronauts to print their own food on the International Space Station or other space facility.
Humans Challenge 8. Space Station Telemetry App 2015
This challenge is to build on-top of the actual Space Station telemetry data stream
Humans Challenge 9. Space Wearables: Designing for Today’s Launch & Research Stars 2015
Your challenge is to design wearable clothing and accessories that could be useful for the engineers, technicians, and scientists involved with ground processing spacecraft and rockets and/or researchers, both on and off world, doing lab or field work.
Humans Challenge 10. SpaceGloVe: Spacecraft Gesture and Voice Commanding 2015
We’d like you to produce a new technique for controlling a computer application via one or more wearable devices (e.g. smartphone) that wirelessly connects to the main computer and responds to gestures and voice commands.
Humans Challenge 11. Survivor: Mars Lava Tubes 2015
Develop a game allowing players to explore lava tubes on Mars.
Category 4 of 4: Robots
Robots Challenge 1. Robots Robots Robots
Create your own Earth-based robotics competition: build a robot, program it, and create your own competition with friends, co-workers, and/or members of your community
Robots Challenge 2. Sensor Yourself 2015
Put together a stream of applicable sensor data of your choice to guide forward movement or to gauge when to stop based on danger or impediments. Use your imagination.
Robots Challenge 3. SpaceBot Stereo Vision 2015
Apply stereo vision data from space in new ways and use the data output from this challenge to create a data dashboard, visualization, infographic, app, software tools, or your own Earth-based robot.
Robots Challenge 4. Spacecraft Thermal Power Consumption 2015
The goal of this operational prototype is to better estimate the power that will be consumed by the thermal subsystem in order to determine the power available for doing science.
Robots Challenge 5. ZERO GEE Bee – Your Friendly Neighborhood Drone 2015
Design and simulate a drone (e.g. quad-copter) to be used on a space station, or another large manned spacecraft, to assist the crew with moving items (5 lb / ~2kg) around the facility
