The Met Office is playing host to NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge, with participants from all walks of life invited to take part.  

The Space Apps Challenge is a 48-hour global event, with teams taking part from all around the world in the same weekend of 7 and 8 October 2023.  

The Joint Centre for Excellence in Environmental Intelligence (JCEEI), which is a partnership between the Met Office and the University of Exeter, and TechExeter CIC are sponsoring the event, which aims to bring diverse teams together to take on challenges set by NASA.  

Registration for the free two-day event hosted at the Met Office in Exeter is open now, with around 100 people expected to take part in person, including artists, business professionals, students, tech enthusiasts and creative thinkers.  

Challenges set by NASA will require teams to use diverse skills to solve problems, often in unique or creative ways. There are normally around 25 challenges for teams to choose from, which can be as diverse as creating videos to explain a subject to taking on data analysis and coding, and everything in between.  

Exeter’s hosting of the challenge will fittingly take place at the Met Office, an internationally-recognised location in meteorology and climate science, and is also home of the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre, which is one of a handful of 24/7 space weather forecasting centres in the world; monitoring the Sun’s activity for the safety of satellites, astronauts and those on Earth. 

The JCEEI, which is helping to host the event, brings together world-leading researchers from a range of disciplines to enhance society’s resilience to environmental and climate change. It’s hoped the Space Apps Challenge will help open science up to the community and inspire some to consider future engagement  

The JCEEI’s Co-Director Dr Rachel McInnes, hosting the event for the Met Office, said: “The Space Apps Challenge is the southwest’s chance to play its part in a global event solving some complex challenges in new and interesting ways. People will work together over a weekend at the Met Office so what we really need is a diverse range of participants who can look at problems in different ways. 

“We’re thrilled to host this event, bringing exciting science into the community and opening our doors to a wide range of people. This is event is really for anyone with a curious and creative mind who fancies taking on some of NASA’s innovative challenges.” 

The event is free to attend and participants will get lunch and dinner included on Saturday, as well as breakfast and lunch on Sunday, with snacks and drinks also provided throughout. Separate childcare is also available for free for those with young children who wish to attend.  

TechExeter community leader Kris Sum said: “SpaceApps brings amazing people together to find our way to solving some of the world’s biggest problems. We’ve seen people make video games, space suits, mars habitats, phone apps, movies and even a song! I can’t wait to see what this year’s participants will come up with!” 

JCEEI Co-Director Prof Hywel Williams from the University of Exeter said: “The Space Apps Challenge will allow teams to explore some fascinating topics and will be great fun for everyone involved. It’s a great opportunity for the community to get close to the exciting science being developed at NASA, the Met Office and the University of Exeter.”  

Each local site taking part in the challenge will nominate winners to be put forward for global judging by experts from NASA, space agency partners and industry. Global winners receive an invitation to the Winners Trip, which will include a visit to a NASA Center.  

Register your interest now for the Space Apps Challenge taking place in the Met Office on 7 and 8 October 2023. Registration closes Monday 25 September 2023.