Develop an App for Space Exploration with NASA & IBM

IBM will be offering free access to its cloud development program, Bluemix, as part of a collaboration with NASA during a global weekend of coding

The Space Apps challenge will take place this weekend, Friday, April 10 through Sunday, April 12, across 62 countries around the world, bringing 10,000 people together for the official events with more invited to join online. Participants are challenged to build apps that could be used to explore outer space, study the Earth, or make robots more efficient. Some challenges have specific targets, such as Visualizing Asteroids in the Sky: designers in this challenge should create an app that can gather data to help NASA track asteroids. Some challenges are more down-to-Earth: the Crop Alert challenge asks participants to develop an app to help farmers create novel methods for growing crops.

Along with using IBM’s platform, participants will also have access to more than 200 NASA data sets, services, and tools.

Bluemix includes more than 100 development tools, including services for Watson analytics and tools for managing Internet of Things-connected devices. Participants in the Space App Challenge will also have access to IBM’s online tutorials for Bluemix, plus dedicated virtual support. On-site contestants can partner with IBM experts to learn about cloud-based development around the world, including in New York, Texas, and Maryland.

“The NASA International Space Apps Challenge is at the forefront of innovation, providing real-world examples of how technology can be used to by the best and brightest developers in the world to solve some of the most daunting challenges facing our civilization,” said Sandy Carter, General Manager, Cloud Ecosystem and Developers, IBM. “Using the IBM Cloud, IBM is making it easier for developers to solve NASA challenges by helping them leverage and make sense of data in ways that wouldn’t have been possible even just a few years ago.”

The program isn’t just educational. Up to 30 people will be rewarded for their innovative use of Bluemix, and will receive from IBM up to a year of free access to the program and up to 80 hours of tech support, plus assistance over six months by senior IBM developers.

Two projects from each of 136 cities will also be able to advance to a global round of judging. NASA will select one winner from this group in each of five finalist categories: Best Mission Concept, Best Use of Hardware, Best Use of Data, Most Inspiring, and Galactic Impact.