Media are invited to attend NASA’s third annual International Space Apps Challenge. The main event will be held April 12-13 in New York. The two-day “codeathon” also will be locally hosted at almost 100 locations spanning six continents.
The International Space Apps Challenge will bring tech-savvy citizens, scientists, entrepreneurs, educators, and students together to help solve challenges relevant to both space exploration and social needs. More than 200 data sources, including data sets, data services, and tools will be made available.
About 40 new challenges will represent NASA mission priorities and be organized in five themes: Earth Watch, Technology in Space, Human Spaceflight, Robotics, and Asteroids, including the asteroid imagery sharing and asteroid watchers challenges. These support NASA’s Asteroid Initiative, which will include the first mission to identify, capture and relocate an asteroid for astronauts to explore. Nearly half of the challenges are in the Earth Watch theme, which supports NASA’s focus on Earth science in 2014.
“Future human and robotic missions to the solar system will require rich, networked communications capacity,” said Vint Cerf, internet pioneer and visiting scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for the “Bring the Internet to Deep Space Exploration” challenge “This challenge is an opportunity to explore ways to support anticipated planetary and interplanetary communication needs now and in the years to come.”
NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock and NASA Deputy Chief Information Officer, Deborah Diaz will be available to speak with media in person starting at 1 p.m. EDT at New York’s Alley Building 500 7th Avenue, 17th floor.
Media who wish to attend need to contact Eldora Valentine no later than 9 a.m., Thursday, April 10 at eldora.valentine-1@nasa.gov or 202-358-3968.
The public also can hangout virtually with Wheelock and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli. A Google+ Hangout with the astronauts will start at 12:30 p.m. In addition to Wheelock, Nespoli and Diaz, other participants include Ellen Stofan, NASA’s chief scientist, and Jason Kessler, program executive, Asteroid Grand Challenge in NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist.
The Hangout will be streamed online for virtual participants, and questions will be taken throughout the event on Twitter using the hashtag #spaceapps.
For more information about the Space Apps Challenge, visit:
http://spaceappschallenge.org
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Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1761
sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov