NASA Welcomes All Ages, Experience Levels for Space Apps Challenge

The 2026 NASA Space Apps Challenge, an annual global two-day event, welcomes participants of all ages and skill levels to create solutions inspired by NASA's ambitious exploration goals. Using NASA's free and open data, teams work collaboratively to tackle real-world challenges spanning three major focus areas: returning humans to the Moon, preparing for deep-space missions, and expanding knowledge of the universe.

Nicky Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, emphasized that science is for everyone, inviting the next generation to contribute their skills to addressing critical space challenges. This year's challenges closely align with NASA's Artemis program and Moon Base objectives, focusing on surface operations, environmental constraints, and long-duration stays on the Moon.

Additionally, several challenges are geared towards supporting Mars exploration, including operational concepts for Martian surface activities, integrating data from multiple Mars missions, and evaluating mission-design trade-offs for deep-space exploration. Other challenges address fundamental concerns for long-duration space travel, such as monitoring astronaut health indicators and examining engineering and scientific choices' impact on mission execution in extraterrestrial environments.

NASA's astrophysics missions, including the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx), are also featured in the 2026 Space Apps Challenge. These challenges focus on enhancing public access to mission data, designing visualization tools, and engaging broader audiences with scientific products derived from these missions.

By participating in the Space Apps Challenge, participants can interact with real-world NASA needs while contributing to gold standard science and supporting the agency's mission landscape.