NASA Space Apps has named 10 global winners, recognizing teams from around the world for their exceptional innovation and collaboration during the 2024 NASA Space Apps Challenge. As the largest annual global hackathon, this event invites participants to leverage open data from NASA and its space agency partners to tackle real-world challenges on Earth and in space.

Last year’s hackathon welcomed 93,520 registered participants, including space, science, technology, and storytelling enthusiasts of all ages. Participants gathered at local events in 163 countries and territories, forming teams to address the challenges authored by NASA subject matter experts. These challenges included subjects/themes/questions in ocean ecosystems, exoplanet exploration, Earth observation, planetary seismology, and more.

The 2024 Global Winners were determined out of 9,996 project submissions and judged by subject matter experts from NASA and space agency partners.

“These 10 exceptional teams created projects that reflect our commitment to understanding our planet and exploring beyond, with the potential to transform Earth and space science for the benefit of all,” said Dr. Keith Gaddis, NASA Space Apps Challenge program scientistat NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The NASA Space Apps Challenge showcases the potential of every idea and individual. I am excited to see how these innovators will shape and inspire the future of science and exploration.”

You can watch the Global Winners Announcement here to meet these winning teams and learn about the inspiration behind their projects.

2024 NASA Space Apps Challenge Global Winners

Best Use of Science Award: WMPGang

Team Members: Dakota C., Ian C., Maximilian V., Simon S.

Challenge: Create an Orrery Web App that Displays Near-Earth Objects

Country/Territory: Waterloo,Canada

Using their skills in programming, data analysis, and visualization, WMPGang created a web app that identifies satellite risk zones using real-time data on Near-Earth Objects and meteor streams.

• Learn more about WMPGang’s SkyShield: Protecting Earth and Satellites from Space Hazards project

Best Use of Data Award: GaamaRamma

Team Members: Aakash H., Arun G., Arthur A., Gabriel A., May K.

Challenge: Leveraging Earth Observation Data for Informed Agricultural Decision-Making

Country/Territory: Universal Event, United States

GaamaRamma’s team of tech enthusiasts aimed to create a sustainable way to help farmers efficiently manage water availability in the face of drought, pests, and disease.

• Learn more about GaamaRamma’s Waterwise project

Best Use of Technology Award: 42 QuakeHeroes

Team Members: Alailton A., Ana B., Gabriel C., Gustavo M., Gustavo T., Larissa M.

Challenge: Seismic Detection Across the Solar System

Country/Territory: Maceió, Brazil

Team 42 QuakeHeroes employed a deep neural network model to identify the precise locations of seismic events within time-series data. They used advanced signal processing techniques to isolate and analyze unique components of non-stationary signals.

• Learn more about 42 QuakeHeroes’ project

Galactic Impact Award: NVS-knot

Team Members: Oksana M., Oleksandra M., Prokipchyn Y., Val K.

Challenge:  Leveraging Earth Observation Data for Informed Agricultural Decision-Making

Country/Territory: Kyiv, Ukraine

The NVS-knot team assessed planting conditions using surface soil moisture and evapotranspiration data, then created an app that empowers farmers to manage planting risks.

• Learn more about NVS-knot’s 2plant | ! 2plant project

Best Mission Concept Award: AsturExplorers

Team Members: Coral M., Daniel C., Daniel V., Juan B., Samuel G., Vladimir C.

Challenge: Landsat Reflectance Data: On the Fly and at Your Fingertips

Country/Territory: Gijón, Spain

AsturExplorers created Landsat Connect, a web app that provides a simple, intuitive way to track Landast satellites and access Landsat surface reflectance data. The app also allows users to set a target location and receive notifications when Landsat satellites pass over their area.

• Learn more about AsturExplorers’ Landsat Connect project

Most Inspirational Award: Innovisionaries

Team Members: Rikzah K., Samira K., Shafeeqa J., Umamah A.

Challenge: SDGs in the Classroom

Country/Territory: Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Innovisionaries developed Eco-Metropolis to inspire sustainability through gameplay. This city-building game engages players in making critical urban planning and resource management decisions based on real-world environmental data.

• Learn more about Innovisionaries’ Eco-Metropolis: Sustainable City Simulation project

Best Storytelling Award: TerraTales

Team Members: Ahmed R., Fatma E., Habiba A., Judy A., Maya M.

Challenge: Tell Us a Climate Story!

Country/Territory: Cairo, Egypt

TerraTales shared stories of how Earth’s changing climate affects three unique regions: Egypt, Brazil, and Germany. The web app also features an artificial intelligence (AI) model for climate forecasting and an interactive game to encourage users to make eco-friendly choices.

• Learn more about TerraTale’s project

Global Connection Award: Asteroid Destroyer

Team Members: Kapeesh K., Khoi N., Sathyajit L., Satyam S.

Challenge: Navigator for the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO): Mapping the Characterizable Exoplanets in our Galaxy

Country/Territory: Saskatoon, Canada

Team Asteroid Destroyer honed in on exoplanets, utilizing data processing and machine learning techniques to map exoplanets based on size, temperature, and distance.

• Learn more about Asteroid Destroyer’s project

Art & Technology Award: Connected Earth Museum

Team Members: Gabriel M., Luc R., Lucas R., Mattheus L., Pedro C., Riccardo S.

Challenge: Imagine our Connected Earth

Country/Territory: Campinas, Brazil

Team Connected Earth Museum created an immersive virtual museum experience to raise awareness of Earth’s changing climate. An AI host guides users through an interactive gallery featuring 3D and 2D visualizations, including a time series on Earth and ocean temperatures, population density, wildfires, and more.

• Learn more about Connected Earth Museums’ project

Local Impact Award: Team I.O.

Team Members: Frank R., Jan K., Raphael R., Ryan Z., Victoria M.

Challenge: Community Mapping

Country/Territory: Florianópolis, Brazil

Team I.O. bridges the gap between complex Geographic Information Systems data and user-friendly communication, making critical environmental information accessible to everyone, regardless of technical expertise.

• Learn more about Team I.O.’s G.R.O.W. (Global Recovery and Observation of Wildfires) project

Want to take part in the 2025 NASA Space Apps Challenge? Mark your calendars for October 4 and 5! Registration will open in July. At that time, participants will be able to register for a local event hosted by NASA Space Apps leads from around the world. You can stay connected with NASA Space Apps on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

Space Apps is funded by NASA’s Earth Science Division through a contract with Booz Allen Hamilton, Mindgrub, and SecondMuse.

LMS instrument aboard the Blue Ghost Lander heading to Mare Crisium in mid-January

As part of its Artemis campaign, NASA is developing a series of increasingly complex lunar deliveries and missions to ultimately build a sustained human presence at the Moon for decades to come. Through the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative, commercial provider Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander will head to the Moon’s Mare Crisium for a 14-day lunar lander mission, carrying NASA science and technology that will help understand the lunar subsurface in a previously unexplored location.

Developed by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), NASA’s Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS) will probe the interior of the Moon to depths of up to 700 miles, two-thirds of the way to the lunar center. The measurements will shed light on the differentiation and thermal history of our Moon, a cornerstone to understanding the evolution of solid worlds.

Magnetotellurics uses natural variations in surface electric and magnetic fields to calculate how easily electricity flows in subsurface materials, which can reveal their composition and structure.

“For more than 50 years, scientists have used magnetotellurics on Earth for a wide variety of purposes, including to find oil, water, and geothermal and mineral resources, as well as to understand geologic processes such as the growth of continents,” said SwRI’s Dr. Robert Grimm, principal investigator of LMS. “The LMS instrument will be the first extraterrestrial application of magnetotellurics.”

Mare Crisium is an ancient, 350-mile-diameter impact basin that subsequently filled with lava, creating a dark spot visible on the Moon from Earth. Early astronomers who dubbed dark spots on the moon “maria,” Latin for seas, mistook them for actual seas.

Mare Crisium stands apart from the large, connected areas of dark lava to the west where most of the Apollo missions landed. These vast, linked lava plains are now thought to be compositionally and structurally different from the rest of the Moon. From this separate vantage point, LMS may provide the first geophysical measurements representative of most of the Moon.

The LMS instrument ejects cables with electrodes at 90-degree angles to each other and distances up to 60 feet. The instrument measures voltages across opposite pairs of electrodes, much like the probes of a conventional voltmeter. The magnetometer is deployed via an extendable mast to reduce interference from the lander. The magnetotelluric method reveals a vertical profile of the electrical conductivity, providing insight into the temperature and composition of the penetrated materials in the lunar interior.

“The five individual subsystems of LMS, together with connecting cables, weigh about 14 pounds and consume about 11 Watts of power,” Grimm said. “While stowed, each electrode is surrounded by a ‘yarn ball’ of cable, so the assembly is roughly spherical and the size of a softball.”

The LMS payload was funded and will be delivered to the lunar surface through NASA’s CLPS initiative. Southwest Research Institute based in San Antonio built the central electronics and leads the science investigation. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provided the LMS magnetometer to measure the magnetic fields, and Heliospace Corp. provided the electrodes used to measure the electrical fields.

Under the CLPS model, NASA is investing in commercial delivery services to the Moon to enable industry growth and support long-term lunar exploration. As a primary customer for CLPS deliveries, NASA aims to be one of many customers on future flights. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the development of seven of the 10 CLPS payloads carried on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander.

Media Contact: Rani Gran
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland