NASA And Other Space Agencies To Host A Hackathon In June
NASA, ESA, and JAXA have announced they will be hosting a hackathon to study the environmental effects of COVID-19. The hackathon will run from June 23 through June 29 and is officially called the Earth Observation Dashboard Hackathon. All around the world, many countries have taken similar steps in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including large-scale lockdowns and mass deployment of personal protective equipment such as masks.
These lockdowns and the deployment of protection equipment have had an environmental impact. NASA, ESA, and JAXA are hosting a contest that will take advantage of powerful Earth observation tools. The virtual event will see participants creating teams and trying to solve various socioeconomic and environmental challenges using data the dashboard gathered over the duration of the pandemic.
Registration is open, and NASA says all coders, entrepreneurs, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, artists, and technologists are encouraged to participate. Challenge topics include air and water quality, economic, social, agricultural impacts, greenhouse gas effects, and interconnected Earth system impacts. NASA says the hackathon is launching a year after the agencies introduced the Earth Observing Dashboard.
That dashboard is an interactive data resource providing policymakers and the public with a tool to probe the short and long-term impacts of pandemic-related restrictions implemented worldwide. Participants in the event will be able to interact with experts from all three space agencies via chat channels and suggest solutions to improve the dashboard. The event is a NASA-led initiative that was organized in collaboration with Booz Allen Hamilton, Mindgrub, and SecondMuse.
More details about the event can he found on its official website. In many states in the US, the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions are beginning to loosen as more people are getting inoculated against the virus. In many states, fully inoculated individuals longer have to wear masks.