


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 American astronauts, including the first woman and first person of color on the Moon. Utilizing what we learn on and around the Moon to take the giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.
Team Registration Due
September 27, 2023
Student Team Videos Due
December 13, 2023
ADC Top Team Announcement
February 28, 2024
ADC Culmination Event
NASA’s Johnson Space Center, April 15-18, 2024
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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NASA’s App Development Challenge Top Team Announcement
Announcement of NASA’s 2023 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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Artemis Generation Coders Earn Invite to Johnson Space Center
NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement has selected five student teams to participate in a culminating event to the 2023 App Development Challenge (ADC), at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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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!