Summary

The Helio Big Year (HBY) runs from October 2023 through December 2024, and includes two major solar eclipses over the Americas, the Sun’s solar maximum (when sunspots are the most numerous and solar flares are more common), and the closest approach to the Sun of NASA’s Heliophysics flagship mission–the Parker Solar Probe. As we like to say, “The Sun Touches Everything!” and millions are expected to take part in HBY events. Your challenge is to develop a creative method to identify and inform people who can significantly contribute to Heliophysics citizen scientist projects, and encourage them to participate in multiple projects by highlighting the connections between these various projects.

Background

The growing NASA Heliophysics citizen science portfolio is highlighted on NASA’s citizen science project webpage, which features a variety of projects covering the Sun, the ionosphere, the magnetosphere, eclipses, ham radio, exoplanets, and projects in other disciplines, too. We want to spread the word and get more people involved in these Heliophysics citizen science projects and even incentivize them to contribute to multiple projects.

The Helio Big Year (HBY) from October 2023 through December 2024 includes two major solar eclipses over the Americas, the Sun’s solar maximum (when sunspots are the most numerous and solar flares are more common), and the closest approach to the Sun of NASA’s Heliophysics flagship mission–the Parker Solar Probe. Millions of people are expected to take part in HBY activities. The HBY provides an opportunity to identify people who are curious about eclipses and other solar phenomena and to inspire them to follow their joy, get involved in Heliophysics citizen scientist projects, and potentially even contribute to multiple projects that cover various aspects of the field.

Objective

Your challenge is to develop a creative method to identify and inform people who can significantly contribute to Heliophysics citizen scientist projects, and to encourage them to participate in multiple projects by highlighting the connections between these various projects.

Here are a few ideas to inspire you: How can you leverage upcoming celestial events happening during HBY to solve this challenge? Can you help the HBY go viral (e.g., by sharing inclusive locations for event viewing and other information) in your area of the globe, at your school, or with another specialized audience? Can you help students or other target audiences find a way to engage in the HBY? Can you build an app that identifies people who might want to participate in a Heliophysics citizen scientist project based on their social media likes and interests, or a “For You Page”-like feed that helps interested participants find a project suitable for their location? How can your solution incentivize participation in HBY and Heliophysics citizen science projects? Can your solution inform current and potential citizen scientists about synergies between projects and encourage them to find new and additional projects to try? You could think about the solution to this challenge as a mash-up between a job search platform that identifies people with needed skills and a social networking site that connects people with shared passions!

Potential Considerations

You may (but are not required to) consider the following when creating your solution:

Many types of people can participate in Heliophysics citizen science projects, including (but not limited to):
- People who are interested in solar phenomena, like eclipses and aurora
- Those who love exploring the natural world and want to learn more about what they see
- Individuals who possess needed skills (e.g., data analysis, computer science, photography, communications)
Can your solution apply open technologies to enhance the science outcomes or citizen science methodology of the larger, connected Helio Big Year across projects and people, with an emphasis on communication and outreach?
We seek equitable solutions that recognize that not everyone has equal opportunity to access resources to participate in volunteer science opportunities.

For data and resources related to this challenge, refer to the Resources tab at the top of the page.

2023 NASA Space Apps Challenge

Winning the Helio Big Year with Joy, Curiosity, and Science!