NASA is inviting coders, entrepreneurs, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, artists, and technologists to come together on 7th and 8th October 2023 in a global hackathon. Over two days, participants from around the world will create in-person and virtual teams to solve challenges using NASA's open-source data. The Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) is proud to welcome back and host Space Apps Challenge 2023.
During the last 11 years, CSEO saw over 6 global wins to Cypriot teams, in the international competitions CSEO hosts and mentors.
Last year saw Cypriot team Brute Force do the country proud by winning the 'Local Impact' category at the international finals with their 'Moonquake Map for Planetary Scientists' project. NASA invited the Cypriot team to visit the NASA Headquarters in Washington DC as part of their global prize.
Now in its 12th year, NASA's Space Apps Challenge has proudly served as a hub for learning, innovation and collaboration and, in that spirit, teams around the world will take on this year's challenges.
This year, two exciting events will come together as the NASA Space Apps Challenge will be held during Cyprus Comic Con. Participants from all over the island are welcome to join the event - which, with the Organisation's mentorship and high-calibre support, has achieved multiple international wins and successes for our country - while being surrounded by creators and fans from the worlds of fiction, fantasy and sci-fi.
'After last year's international win for Cypriot team 'Brute Force', we're excited to work with our friends at Cyprus Comic Con to experience a unique creative and energetic environment that will help inspire participants of NASA's Space Apps Challenge,' said Colm Larkin, CSEO's Head of Innovation and Education.
Since its inception in 2012, Space Apps, a part of NASA's Earth Science Division, has become the world's largest global hackathon. Each year, it engages thousands of individuals and teams across the globe to use NASA data in the building of innovative solutions to challenges we face on Earth and in space. It inspires local innovation communities in cities across six continents to convene, ideate and create. Diverse and collaborative teams of technologists, scientists, designers, entrepreneurs, and others work together in a 48-hour sprint to develop answers to some of the most pressing challenges in Space and facing planet Earth. Space Apps 2022 welcomed over 31,500 participants from 323 locations in more than 160 countries, producing over 3,000 projects in response to Earth Science challenge statements written by NASA.
After the challenge, participants can still obtain support from CSEO's Space Innovation programme.
"If we see that the winning team, after receiving their first prize and mentorship from us, further improves their solution and we identify in them a promising future, CSEO can incubate this team into a space start-up, help them in their career and possibly even offer them research positions within the Organisation's space projects," noted CSEO President George Danos.
This year, CSEO aims to also support and mentor anyone without space-related education or experience in the sector to engage with space.
'The NASA Space Apps Challenge is a competition which is inclusive of everyone. This year's challenges have an even wider range than previous years. Artists can utilise mediums like video to help the public better understand a range of space exploration topics. At the same time, there are also exciting and difficult challenges for engineers and scientific types to sink their teeth into that hold the promise to help solve problems we must deal with in our daily lives,' explained Larkin.
Space Apps gives everyone?not only scientists and engineers?the opportunity to help solve real-world problems, with a diverse range of topics, such as the effects of space weather, space biology, how the ocean helps our everyday lives and searching for habitable exoplanets. Challenges such as 'Visualize a Space Mission Using Virtual Reality', 'Planetary Tourism Office' and 'Titan City, 3023' offer opportunities for artistic and creative participants to contribute to space exploration in real-world, meaningful ways.
The competition will begin at 11am, Saturday 7th October, and end at 4pm on Sunday 8th, with teams then pitching their presentations online for judges to assess. Winners will be announced on Wednesday 11th October and will then proceed to the international round of the NASA Space Apps Challenge.
Participants can register to take part at www.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/nicosia/ and can contact CSEO on [email protected] with any questions.
Further details will be announced on CSEO's Facebook pages at Space Apps Cyprus @spaceappscy and CSEO @CyprusSpaceExplorationOrganisation.
The Cyprus News Agency is the Media Sponsor of the competition.
CSEO is the official representative of Cyprus to the International Committee on Space Research, the International Astronomical Union, the Moon Village Association, the Mars Upper Atmosphere Network and the Mars Society. It is currently running multiple international space research projects funded by EU funds, with a diverse international network of partners. CSEO's mission is to see Cyprus as a niche player in space exploration and to promote space innovation and entrepreneurship on the island.
For more information about the Organisation's projects and activities, visit the CSEO website at www.space.org.cy
Source: Cyprus News Agency