App Development Challenge
The ADC is a coding challenge in which NASA presents technical problems to middle and high school students seeking student contributions to deep space exploration missions. By responding to the ADC, students take a part directly in the Artemis Generation endeavors to land the next American astronauts on the Moon. Utilizing what we learn on and around the Moon to take the giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.
Event Dates
April 14-17, 2025
Event Location
Johnson Space Center
eligibility
Open to U.S. Students
grade levels
Middle and High School
NOTE: This archived content may contain outdated information or references that may not reflect current policy or programs.
ADC Handbook and Coding Components
The ADC Handbook will provide all the details for the challenge and how to get started.
Detailed information regarding the challenge and additional resources are available in the ADC Handbook under the sections entitled “Middle School Challenge” and “High School Challenge”.
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Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN)
NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program, or SCaN, serves as the program office for all of NASA’s space communications activities.
SCaN is presently enabling the success of more than 100 NASA and non-NASA missions. SCaN manages and directs the ground-based facilities and services provided by the Deep Space Network (DSN) and the Near Space Network (NSN), including the NSN’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS).
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NASA’s App Development Challenge Top Team Announcement
Announcement of NASA’s 2024 App Development Challenge (ADC) top teams whose work has earned them a visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The ADC, a part of NASA’s Next Gen STEM project, gave students an opportunity to participate in NASA’s endeavors to land American astronauts, including the first woman and the first person of color, on the Moon. Artemis Generation students were prompted to create an application to visualize the Moon’s South Pole region and display essential information for navigating the lunar surface and receiving signals from Earth.
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Classroom Coding Challenges
The following individual coding challenges can be completed in one to two classroom days. To complete these activities, students will need access to a block code platform. In these challenges, Code.org’s “App Lab” is used as an example, however, any block code platform can be utilized.
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NASA Challenge Gives Artemis Generation Coders a Chance to Shine
NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement selected seven student teams to participate in a culminating event for the 2024 App Development…
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Educator Guides
Deep Space Communications
Four standards-aligned activities help students learn about the fundamental concepts of communication technology.
Propulsion With the Space Launch System
Four standards-aligned activities help students learn about rocketry and NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
Habitation With Gateway
Four standards-aligned activities help students learn about NASA's future lunar habitat, the Gateway.
Crew Transportation With Orion
Four standards-aligned activities help students learn about NASA's Orion spacecraft that will take astronauts to the Moon and beyond.
Join Artemis!
Authentic, hands-on learning experiences give students in middle school all the way through graduate school a chance to flex their design and engineering skills as they build and launch high-powered rockets, design robots capable of mining the Moon’s surface or traversing difficult lunar terrain, create human-powered rovers, and test technologies and tools to assist future astronauts working on the Moon.
Learn More about Join Artemis!
Contact Us
If you have any questions or would like more information about the App Development Challenge, please send us an email. We’d love to hear from you!
