NASA International Space Apps Challenge taking place in TUS Athlone this weekend

Some 200 people are due to participate in the NASA International Space Apps Challenge at TUS Athlone this weekend, with the event kicking off at 6pm this evening.

Space Apps is an international hackathon that is taking place in person over a 48-hour period at 450 locations around the globe from October 3 to 5.

TUS Athlone is the only location in Ireland to host the event for 48 hours non-stop, and HackAthlone is the only location in Europe that is livestreaming the event.

Approximately 100 of those taking part are based at TUS, with another 50 travelling from Dublin and the remainder coming from various locations around the country.

Sahir Sharma, who is a PhD researcher at TUS Athlone and organiser of HackAthlone, explained that NASA releases 18 problem statements that its engineers are facing in a variety of fields, such as technology, business, and arts, and participants in SpaceApps then use the open source information supplied by NASA to come up with solutions to these problems.

Since its inception in 2012 by the Earth Science division, NASA’s International Space App Challenge has engaged 373,000+ people from 185+ countries using NASA’s open data to build innovative solutions that solve challenges we face on Earth and in space.

The event embraces collaborative problem solving with a goal of producing open-source solutions to challenges we currently face on Earth and in space. Space Apps is open to the public and free for all ages to attend.

"It is the world's largest hackathon," explained Sahir. "We have participants from all backgrounds - designers, business, technology."

He said there are 48 teams registered, and some people will form their teams on the day, adding that it is a great networking opportunity.

"We will have people on site all weekend, they will camp in the building. People are starting to arrive, bringing air mattresses, sleeping bags and yoga mats," he said.

During the 48-hour event people will have the opportunity to devise open source solutions to the problems. There then follows a 45-day period when participants can further develop their ideas. NASA then evaluates and chooses ten teams, who will travel to NASA and present their ideas, as well as having the opportunity to view a rocket launch.

"My personal mission is to have a team go from Ireland," said Sahir. "There has never been a team from Ireland."

Sahir added that this is the third year that TUS has hosted the event. While the event itself is closed to the public, it will be livestreamed on the HackAthlone website https://www.hackathlone.com/