Challenge Complete
May 30-31, 2020
Thank you to the over 15,000 participants in 150 countries who solved COVID-19 related challenges using NASA, ESA, JAXA, CSA, and CNES space agency data!
Space Apps COVID-19 Challenge
On May 30-31, NASA, along with the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), invited coders, entrepreneurs, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, artists, and technologists to participate in an all-virtual, global hackathon. During a period of 48 hours, more than 15,000 participants from 150 countries created more than 2,000 virtual teams. They used Earth observation and other open data to propose solutions to one of twelve challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges focused on the following themes:
- Learning about the virus and its spread using space-based data
- Local response/change and solutions
- Impacts of COVID-19 on the Earth system/Earth system response
- Economic opportunity, impact, and recovery during and following COVID-19
As the Space Apps COVID-19 Challenge made evident, the unique capabilities of NASA and its partner space agencies in the areas of science and technology enable them to lend a hand during this global crisis. Since the start of the global outbreak, NASA, ESA, JAXA, CSA, and CNES Earth science specialists have been exploring ways to use unique Earth observation data to aid understanding of the interplay of the Earth system – on global to local scales – with aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak, including, potentially, our ability to combat it. Space Apps participants explored these themes in their projects, along with the human and economic response to the virus. To peruse their projects, navigate to any of our challenge pages and click on the “Teams” tab. View our Space Apps COVID-19 Challenge Global Winners here.
To view highlights from hackathon weekend, subscribe to our Space Apps Twitter feed (@SpaceApps) and check out the videos from our first-ever Virtual Bootcamp.
From the Space Apps Global Organizing (GO) Team, we extend a heartfelt thank you to all of the participants and to the more than 400 volunteers who offered support over hackathon weekend. We honor our ability to come together as a global community in a time of global crisis. We hope to see you again for Space Apps 2020 on October 2-4. Participant registration will open this summer.
There’s a tremendous need for our community’s ingenuity right now. I can’t imagine a more worthy cause than COVID-19 to direct the energy and enthusiasm that always generates such amazing solutions through the Space Apps Challenge.
Background
The Space Apps COVID-19 Challenge is a special edition of NASA’s annual Space Apps Challenge, an international hackathon that takes place in cities around the world and online every October. Since 2012, teams have engaged with NASA's free and open data to address real-world problems on Earth and in space. Space Apps 2019 included more than 29,000 participants at 225 events in 71 countries, developing more than 2,000 hackathon solutions over one weekend. This NASA-led initiative is organized in collaboration with Booz Allen Hamilton, Mindgrub, and SecondMuse. The next annual Space Apps Challenge is scheduled for October 2-4, 2020.