The first stage of the NASA Space Apps Challenge international space hackathon was held on October 5-6. This annual event, which has been held since 2012, unites tens of thousands of space and technology lovers from around the world. Over the course of 48 hours, all of the participants united in teams to solve one of the tasks assigned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States, each of which was aimed at solving global problems of critical importance to humanity.
The hackathon takes place in several stages, the first of which is at the local level. The Noosphere Association has hosted the hackathon in Dnipro eight times since 2017. This year, the NASA Space Apps Challenge Dnipro set a record, with 247 space enthusiasts, students, schoolchildren, and young scientists from Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Canada joining in. Between them, they formed 57 teams and presented 48 projects to the jury on Monday, October 7. The judges included:
• Serhii Veretiuk, head of the Noosphere Engineering School
• Oleksiy Kulyk, head of the Noosphere Space Engineering School
• Volodymyr Hnatushenko, Head of the Department of Information Technologies and Computer Engineering at the Dnipro Polytechnic
• Anna Hurova, an expert in space law and politics
The judges ultimately chose five winning projects:
Space Pigs. A project that uses NASA data from satellites and ground-based instruments to create visual representations of the solar storms in May 2024, helping a wide audience better understand the impact of such events.
Craft Lab. Pocket Universe – a simple DIY hardware solution for learning exoplanet detection methods. The project can also be used to demonstrate eclipses or other phenomena in STEM education.
Voice of the Stars. Exploring the universe through art and science: by transforming starry sky data into music, the project blurs the boundaries between science and art and offers a unique way to use astrophysical data.
Veritasium’s Witnesses. Developing an algorithm for updating software on devices that are already on the Moon or for installing it on new devices.
Hydrolics – Infinite Horizons. A Python-based computer program designed to identify seismic tremors and extract only useful signals to send back to Earth, based on real data from the Apollo missions and the Mars InSight Lander.
Now these teams will have the opportunity to present their innovative ideas to judges from NASA in a competition with other young scientists from around the world. If they win (and we sincerely hope they do!) they will get a chance to visit the NASA space center in the United States.
For its part, the Noosphere Engineering School will also give special recognition to the best projects in the NASA Space Apps Challenge Dnipro, giving the teams that developed them the opportunity to work on them further at the school.
“This is the third time I been part of the jury for the NASA Space Apps Challenge Dnipro, and every year I do it with great interest. For me, the ideas of the hackathon participants are a source of inspiration, passion, and drive. This year there was more than ever, since the organizers received a record number of registrations and projects. All of them were really innovative, important, and technological, created by dedicated students, experienced scientists, and schoolchildren. I am sure that at the Noosphere Engineering School, these projects will receive the necessary support to become young, progressive Ukrainian start-ups,” said Serhiy Veretiuk, Head of the Noosphere Engineering School and a judge of the NASA Space Apps Challenge Dnipro.
In total, more than 93K participants from 163 countries of the world took part in this year’s NASA hackathon.
