Over 150 participants from Romania have registered for NASA Space Apps Challenge, the world's largest space and science hackathon. The event will be held online on October 2-3.

In Romania, the virtual event will be organized in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, and Iasi, and those interested can still register online on the event’s website. The two winning teams from each city will qualify for the global stage and enter the competition for the grand award: the chance to witness a space shuttle launch in 2022.

The teams will have to solve one of the 28 proposed challenges in areas such as Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Apps, Data Organization, Game, Hardware, Knowledge, Lunar Surface Operations, Risk, Science Applications, and Space Travel. Participants can create their own challenge, but it will not enter the final jury.

During the hackathon in Romania, the competitors will receive help and advice from dedicated mentors, and a team of experts from Romania will judge the projects. The teams will be assisted during the 48 hours of competition by representatives of Vodafone Romania, Bosch, Google, Thales, Profi, Endava, Tradesilvania and Cloud Software Development.

The winning teams from Romania will be evaluated together with the other winning projects globally by the experts of the space agency. The ten global awards are Best Use of Science, Best Use of Data, Best Use of Technology, Galactic Impact, Best Mission Concept, Most Inspirational, Best Storytelling Award, Global Connection Award, Art & Technology Award, and Local Impact Award.

In 2020, Space Apps registered approximately 26,000 participants from around the world, who created 2,303 projects. Four teams from Romania qualified for the international judging stage of the competition last year.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: the organizers)