Space Apps is an international hackathon that occurs over 48 hours in cities around the world. Coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, technologists, and everyone enthusiastic about space come together to address challenges we face on Earth and in space. Last year’s hackathon was our largest yet, with more than 160 events and 15,000 people participating across 6 continents!

Now, we invite you to be a part of this exciting, collaborative scientific exploration, as we unleash NASA’s data to problem solvers across the globe. Join us on April 29-30 at The Iron Yard (4203 Montrose) for the 2017 International Space Apps Challenge, with challenges to better understand our home planet, Earth!

PRIZES!

• We're excited to announce that Amazon Web Services will be providing a $100 credit to anyone who participates in Space Apps!
  
• To get you started, Intel will be providing $3000 in developer kits and hardware!
  
• Station Houston will give the winning team a Revolving Membership with access to Mentors and Programs for one month!
  
• The two top local teams will be nominated for the international challenge judged by NASA executives! 
  
• We are working on a few more prizes, so stay tuned! (If you'd like to offer a prize, please see our Collaborator Sheet and contact one of our organizers.) 
  

JUDGING CRITERIA

Team presentations will start at 4:30pm on Sunday: Teams will present their projects to a panel from NASA and the tech community, who will vote to send the two most promising solutions to NASA for global judging (click here for full bio's):

• David Kelldorf - Chief Technology Officer, Johnson Space Center
  
• Jared Nielsen - Application Architect, Ares Corporation
• Randall (Randy) Arnold - Intel Innovator
  
• Brian Dorton - Campus Director, The Iron Yard Houston
• John (JR) Reale - CEO, Station Houston

They will be looking for:

• Impact: How much impact (quality and quantity) can this project have? Does it solve a big problem or a little problem?
  
• Creativity: How creative is the approach? Is the project new and something that hasn’t been attempted before? Is it something that isn’t being addressed by the current market?
  
• Product: How well does this project fit the needs of the challenge it addresses? How user-friendly is the solution?
  
• Presentation: How well did the team communicate their project? Are they effective in telling its story and why it's important?
  

The 48 hour hackathon is designed to inspire innovative ideas, and participants are not expected to have a fully developed project at the end. Please feel free to meet and get to know each other before the hackathon: 

• Attend meetups and get-togethers to meet each other and form teams
  
• Brainstorm ideas on how to address challenges
  
• Identify which challenge you want to address during the hackathon
  
• Identify resources and or tools that you'd like to use to address your chosen challenge

MANY THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS FOR SUPPORTING SPACE APPS HOUSTON!

Intel

Morningstar

Station Houston

The Iron Yard