On October 1-2, the world’s largest space hackathon, NASA Space Apps Challenge, will take place. It’s been held under the auspices of NASA since 2012. Tens of thousands of space enthusiasts around the world organize in thousands of teams to solve tasks dedicated to Earth and space exploration within 48 hours. Last year, more than 28 000 participants from 162 countries joined the NASA Space Apps Challenge!
As usual, the organizer of the local stage of the hackathon in Dnipro is the NGO “Association Noosphere”. During the 5 years of the hackathon in Dnipro, more than 750 space enthusiasts became its participants, together they presented more than 100 projects. Since 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the hackathon has been held online, so enthusiasts from all over Ukraine can join the event in Dnipro. Students, analysts, scientists, programmers, designers, writers, makers, engineers and other fans of space and technology can join the hackathon. Among the tasks of the hackathon are both the development of hardware projects and creative tasks! So everyone will find a task for themselves.
How does a hackathon usually go?
- Those who are interested in the hackathon register on the event’s website and choose the Dnipro location.
- Then the participants of the hackathon need to organize a team and choose a task given by NASA experts. All registered participants receive a link to a chat from the local organizers where they can meet other participants and find a team.
- On October 1, the teams start solving a previously selected task, on which they will work for the next 48 hours.
- On October 2, by the end of the day (23:59), participants must upload their projects to the website.
- On October 3, the teams will present their work to the local jury, which will select the winners of the local stage of the hackathon.
- The winners of the local stage get a chance to present their project on the international stage and compete for the title of Global Winner! Global winners get the opportunity to go to the launch of rockets in the USA as soon as quarantine and other restrictions allow it.
As the organizer of the local stage of the hackathon, the NGO “Association Noosphere” comprehensively supports its participants and helps them in solving various organizational issues. For several years in a row, we have been making a detailed manual for hackathon participants and publishing a description of hackathon tasks in Ukrainian. This year, we also made a short video guide on hackathon registration for new participants. We also publish the latest hackathon news on the event’s Facebook page. If you want to try your hand at the space industry and get the opportunity to present your project to the international space community – join us!