Project Submission Guide

Project submission opens on Saturday, October 5 at 9:00 a.m.(in accordance with the time zone of your Team Owner's Local Event). At that time, your team will be able to edit your team’s Project page and submit your project on your team’s Project tab. Project submission closes on Sunday, October 6 at 11:59 p.m. (in accordance with the time zone of your Team Owner's Local Event).

Exceptions: If your team is registered for the Universal Event, Project Submission opens Saturday, October 5 at 9:00 AM and closes Sunday, October 6 at 11:59 PM in accordance with the local time of your Team Owner's area of residence.

Check with your Local Lead if you have questions about the deadline for your Local Event’s Local Judging and Local Awards.

Once you create or join a team, you will be able to edit your team’s Project Submission page. The Project Submission page is where your team will provide all of the details about your project. This is the page that the judges will review. The more information you provide on this page, the better the judges can rate your submission!

How to Access Your Project Page

1. Navigate to Your team's page.
2. Click on your profile icon on the top right-hand side of the NASA Space Apps website menu.
3. Click on “My Team.”
4. On your team page, select the “Project” tab.

How to Edit Your Project Page

1. Scroll down and click the blue “Edit Details” button. Note: The “Edit Project” button will appear only when the hackathon begins on October 5, 2024 at 9 a.m. local time.
2. Save your project often so you do not lose your work! You can save your work as many times as you like before the end of the hackathon by clicking the blue “Save Progress” button at the bottom of the page. Note that your changes won't be viewable to your team until you click the “Publish” button.
3. Once you are ready to publish the changes you've made, click the "Publish" button at the top of the page. Your changes will now be viewable to anyone who visits your page.
4. If you have multiple team members who might be trying to edit your project at the same time, you can toggle the edit "Lock" to 'ON'. This will let other team members know you are making changes to the "Project" tab so they do not try to make edits at the same time. However, be aware that another team member can still remove the lock and make changes to the project, overwriting any changes you have not yet published.
5. Work with your team to provide answers to the prompts on the form. The exact questions from the project submission form and guidelines on how to answer are provided below.

Once you’re ready to submit your project, take these steps on the Project Submission page:

• Agree to and check the "Terms and Conditions"
• Agree to and check the "Confirm All Work is Original" box
• Select “Submit for Judging.” If you have not completed all of the required sections on the Project page, you will not be allowed to proceed.
• If your project was submitted successfully, a banner will appear at the top of your screen along with a confirmation message. You may edit and resubmit your project as many times as you'd like until the end of the hackathon. Only your last saved submission will be reviewed by the judges.

Project Requirements

• Demo: All teams must create a Project Demo as part of their project submission. The purpose of the demo is to provide audiences (including the judges) with a high-level summary of your project along with a demonstration of your final project, including any software or hardware that you created.
• Format: Video (up to 30 seconds) or slide deck (up to 7 slides).
• Hosting: Use an external site (e.g. YouTube, Google Drive, GitHub, One Drive, Dropbox, etc.) for hosting your demo and ensure the link is publicly accessible. You will not be able to upload your video or slides to the NASA Space Apps website.
• Language Requirements: Video demos must include English subtitles; slide decks must be in English.
• Judging Criteria: Your project will be evaluated using five criteria: Impact, Creativity, Validity, Relevance, and Presentation. These categories are outlined in more detail in the 2024 Judging and Awards Guide.

Creating a Compelling Demo

• Plan Ahead: Decide early whether to create a video or slide deck, and consider the question, “What story does my team want to tell?”.
• Delegate: Assign a teammate to lead the Demo creation.
• Visual Storytelling: A great pitch can make all the difference in how your project is judged! Your goal should be to quickly communicate the importance and relevance of your project to someone who has no context, technical background, or previous knowledge of your subject. There are two formats to submit your Project Demo. Regardless of which one you use, be sure to use strong visuals and ensure readability.
  • Video Demo: The video pitch should be no longer than 30 seconds.
    • [0:00] Introduce yourself: What is your name and your team's name?
    • [0:02] Lead us in: What challenge does your project address? What inspired you to choose this challenge?
    • [0:05] Name your project: Share your project's title and tagline to catch your audience's attention. Titles should be short but can indicate what problem the project solves or what people gain from your project.
    • [0:10] Describe your idea: How does it work? Display images or a prototype, describe a user's experience, and share how using NASA's free and open data and Space Agency partner's data made your proposed solution possible.
    • [0:20-0:30] Look into the future: Paint a picture! Captivate your audience with what it could be; What can your proposed solution do for people, the world, and beyond?
  • Slide Demo: The slide deck should be a maximum of 7 slides (including the title slide).
    • Choose a slide template with readable font size and limit the number of words on each slide when possible.
    • Incorporate strong visuals to help tell the story of your project. Your visuals should:
      • Display an image of the project
      • Describe the user experience
      • Include how space agency open data and technology make your solution possible
    • Ensure that the content of your slides address the following:
      • Team name
      • Names of team members
      • The challenge your team selected
• Limitations: Adhere to the 30-second and 7-slide limits.

Past Global Winner Demo Examples

Get inspired by these exceptional Demos from previous NASA Space Apps Project Submissions. (Scroll to the Demo section on each team’s Project page and click on the link.)

• NASA Space Apps 2023 team, $quality_over_quantity (7 slides)
• NASA Space Apps 2023 team, Oogway comics (7 slides)
• NASA Space Apps 2023 team, Arcobaleno (30-second video)
• NASA Space Apps 2023 team, Astrogenesis (30-second video)
• NASA Space Apps 2023 team, Greetings from Earth!! (30-second video)
• NASA Space Apps 2023 team, LunarTech Ensemble (30-second video)
• NASA Space Apps 2023 team, Spacebee (30-second video)
• NASA Space Apps 2023 team, Space Quest Maidens - Donzelas da Missão Espacial (30-second video)
• NASA Space Apps 2023 team, Storm Prophet (30-second video)
• NASA Space Apps 2023 team, Team Voyagers (30-second video)

Please note these limitations and instructions for sharing files on your Project page:

• The Project page DOES allow for the upload or copy/paste of images (JPG, PNG, GIF up to 10MB). However, it DOES NOT allow for the upload of videos or documents.
• To include videos or documents, please follow these instructions:
  • Upload videos or documents to a cloud-based hosting service or code repository (e.g. YouTube, Google Drive, GitHub, One Drive, Dropbox, etc.) equipped to host the media, and then provide a publicly accessible link in your submission. In other words, links should not require registration or permission to access them.
  • These sites usually have a “share” option, where you can copy a URL. Before doing so, ensure that the share option allows for public access to the file. Be sure to test the URL with your teammates or in a private browsing window to confirm the judges can access it.
  • Whether you link to a Google slide deck, a YouTube video, or something else, there are plenty of ways to incorporate visuals in your final submission.

Those, who both register for the 2024 NASA Space Apps Challenge and submit a project, will receive a participant certificate. Certificates will automatically become available for download on your user Profile once your project is submitted.

To access your certificate:

1. Once logged in, you can access your account profile by going to the avatar at the top right of the NASA Space Apps website menu and selecting “Profile” in the drop down.
2. Scroll down to the "Participant Information" section and look for “2024 NASA Space Apps Challenge.”
3. Click on the yellow “Download Participant Certificate” button to download a PDF document of your participant certificate (PDF is the only download option).
4. Please download your participant certificate from a laptop or desktop, rather than a mobile device to ensure the formatting is aligned.
5. When downloading your certificate, make sure the selected paper size is “Letter” size (8.5x11in / 215x297mm)
6. If you experience technical issues while downloading your participant certificate, please email [email protected] and include your username and team name.

Note that your name will appear on the certificate based on what you have listed under Full Name in your Profile. For your “Full Name," please provide your first and last name as you would like it to appear on your Participant Certificate. If you would like to modify your full name, you can do this by clicking on the “Change” button next to “Full Name” in the “Account Information” section in your Profile. You can change this at any time, even after submitting a project. In inputting your name, please adhere to the NASA Space Apps Values.