NASA Space Apps 2026 challenge
Identify Earth Locations that Analog the Permanent Moon Base Locations and Mars
Subjects: Earth Science · Planets & Moons · Software · Space Exploration
Summary
Selecting future landing sites and lunar base locations depends on many factors, including topography, geology, environment, and available resources, to name a few. Places on Earth that have analogous characteristics to the Moon or Mars – the Atacama Desert, Haughton Crater, Death Valley – allow mission teams to test equipment and methods before they fly; however, such terrestrial analog sites are not entirely well characterized. Your challenge is to use open Earth, Moon, and Mars data from NASA and other space agencies to identify and characterize new terrestrial analogs for future bases or landing sites, drawing on deserts, polar regions, volcanic and arid terrains, caves, and other environments that share conditions with the lunar or Martian surface.
The full challenge statement, with its data and resources, is published on 28 October. Until then, you can read this summary, talk it over with your team and plan, but the Space Apps rules say no work on the project itself before the hackathon starts.
From the NASA Space Apps Challenge. The official page is the final word on this challenge.