Tag: Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program

NASA Opportunities Fuel Growth and Entrepreneurship for Bronco Space Club Students

NeRD

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Bronco Space team assembles its Bronco Ember technology, which uses a short-wave infrared camera with AI to improve early wildfire detection. Credit: Bronco Space NASA’s public competitions can catalyze big changes – not just for the agency but also for participants. Bronco Space, the CubeSat laboratory at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California, matured more than just space technology as a result of winning funds from NASA’s TechLeap Prize competition. It grew from its roots in a…

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NASA’s Space Tech Prize Bolsters Diversity, Inclusivity Champions 

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Credits: NASA NASA selected the first winners of the agency’s Space Tech Catalyst prize to expand engagement with underrepresented and diverse individuals in the space technology sector as part of the agency’s broader commitment to inclusivity and collaboration. The winners are receiving $25,000 each to create more inclusive space technology ecosystems. “As NASA continues to explore the unknown, making the impossible possible, we are committed to engaging talents from all backgrounds to advance exploration,” said Shahra Lambert, NASA senior advisor for engagement. “By providing funding to this space technology community,…

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Going Beyond the Challenge for New and Continued Success

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CO2 Conversion Challenge (2020) – NASA’s Centennial Challenges has an impact far greater than just space travel – just ask Air Co., a Brooklyn-based company that competed and won a three-way tie in the CO2 Conversion Challenge, which ran from 2018 to 2021. Air Co. founders Gregory Constantine (left) and Stafford Sheehan (right) used their innovative idea, which originally existed to convert carbon dioxide into glucose, to create immediately usable hand sanitizer at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Image courtesy of Air Co. NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate connects…

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Reaching New Frontiers in Science Supported by Public Participation

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8 min read Reaching New Frontiers in Science Supported by Public Participation A brown dwarf roaming the Milky Way galaxy. Image by citizen scientist/artist William Pendrill. Credit: William Pendrill NASA’s Science Mission Directorate seeks knowledge and answers to profound questions that impact all people. Through competitions, challenges, crowdsourcing, and citizen science activities, NASA collaborates with the public to make scientific discoveries that help us better understand our planet and the space beyond. Multiple NASA science projects were supported through public participation in Fiscal Years 2021 and 2022, spanning pursuits in…

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Inspiring the Next Generation with Student Challenges and Learning Opportunities

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8 min read Inspiring the Next Generation with Student Challenges and Learning Opportunities Creativity and curiosity are strongly tied to NASA’s missions and vision. Many of the agency’s public opportunities foster these traits by engaging students and educators. Participants of all ages and levels, from kindergarten to college, used their imaginations and enthusiasm to solve open innovation challenges related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in fiscal years 2021-2022. Advancing and Encouraging Aerospace Careers Multiple NASA programs partnered with Starburst Accelerator in Los Angeles to launch the 2022…

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Brilliant Minds for Pure Blue Skies

NeRD

Welcome, passionate innovators and bold visionaries, to an extraordinary quest to redefine the future of aviation, to bring forth a world where the skies are clear, and the flights are green. The challenge at hand is not just a call to reimagine aircraft but an invitation to unleash your creativity in scripting an environmentally-conscious success story for the ages. Picture this – the year is 2050. A dark, smoky haze shrouds the flightline, casting a shadow of uncertainty on the future of our planet. The world watches as aircraft crisscross…

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Space Tech Catalyst Prize

NeRD

The NASA Space Tech Catalyst Prize will recognize U.S. individuals and/or organizations that share effective best practices for how they support underrepresented and diverse space technology innovators, researchers, technologists, and entrepreneurs. The prize competition’s primary goals are: (1) Showcase effective strategies and approaches for developing the capacity and skill sets of these groups, enhancing their ability to succeed, (2) Expand the outreach and engagement efforts of the NASA ESIP portfolio, ensuring a diverse and inclusive pool of applicants for future funding opportunities, and (3) Recognize the efforts of those who…

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