NASA Space Apps Challenge Coming Oct 1

The NASA Apps Challenge event, a hackathon that is about creating much more than mobile apps, is a free global event happening simultaneously in hundreds of cities around the world. This year it will be a full weekend on October 1-2 (9am-6pm). A local team of innovation champions and entrepreneurs has come together to create the Sacramento NASA Hackathon for 2022. The event will be held at The Granite School in Folsom, home to the Northern California Innovation District or NCID.

What to Expect

The NASA Challenge will be an environment where our regional community of scientists, coders, technologists, designers, students, artists and more come together to solve some of our most pressing problems on Earth and in Space. One of the 23 Challenges, which have been created by NASA experts, are chosen by participants. Challenges range from Beginner/Youth to Advanced and from Climate to Games and Art.

Teams are formed early Saturday morning. Then they get straight to work on creating solutions. On Sunday, the hackathon culminates with team presentations or “pitches” that will be judged by local aerospace experts and business leaders.

Results and testimonials from previous years have demonstrated that the most innovative collaboration happens when people of all ages and backgrounds participate.

Ingrid Rosten, the local lead for the Sacramento event, describes what she enjoys most about it. “The thing I love about this hackathon is the opportunity to bring the community together, kids and adults, solving real world and space problems together. It enables us to stand together for the greater good of all. It’s fun and together we make a big difference around the world.”

History of the Challenge

The annual NASA Space Apps Challenge began in 2012. Since then it has had more than 180,000 global citizens participate in over 150 countries. Initially, “Space Apps” was only about Space Science. Now it has grown to also include Earth Sciences, Arts, and Humanities challenges alongside technology, thereby building a more inclusive program.

There are many ways people can get involved besides participating in the hackathon for the entire weekend. Volunteers, mentors, and sponsors are highly encouraged and appreciated. Brett Hoffstadt is a local engineer and children’s book author with extensive roots in the aerospace community. “I have seen many times that the most interesting ideas come from the most interesting people. When I learned that we had the possibility to make this event happen for people in our region, I said ‘We must make it so.’”

Who knows? Perhaps a future Sacramento-area startup will credit this event as their launching point!

How to Participate

Registration and attendance is free for everyone ages 16 and up. Go to the NASA space apps challenge website for more information and visit the group’s Registration page to sign up for our local event.