Joining the many organizations that have turned their focus to the challenge of COVID-19, NASA has partnered with ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) to develop innovative solutions for it via a virtual hackathon on May 30-31. Invitees include coders, entrepreneurs, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, artists, and technologists who will tackle this great ask through the use of open data.
During the global Space Apps COVID-19 Challenge to be held over two days, virtual teams will be created drawn from around the world who will be given access to Earth observation data. Possible areas of focus will range from the causes of COVID-19, the factors influencing its spread and mitigating the impact it is having on the Earth system.
“There’s a tremendous need for our collective ingenuity right now,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “I can’t imagine a more worthy focus than COVID-19 on which to direct the energy and enthusiasm from around the world,”
Space Apps is an international hackathon that cities have hosted since 2012. Teams have utilized NASA’s free and open data to address real-world problems on Earth and in space. The upcoming COVID-19 Challenge will the first time it will be held virtually. Last year’s Challenge had more than 29,000 participants at 225 events in 71 countries that yielded more than 2,000 hackathon solutions.
For more information about NASA Space Apps Challenges, visit: spaceappschallenge.org
Registration opens in mid-May.
