The Sun Touches Everything with NASA Heliophysics
What do NASA Space Apps and the Sun have in common? We’re both all around the globe!
This year, the NASA International Space Apps Challenge, in collaboration with NASA Heliophysics’ celebration of the Helio Big Year, is illuminating the expansive reach of the Sun and its influence on every aspect of our environment. This year’s theme, “The Sun Touches Everything,” highlights the Suns’ interconnectedness and how the Sun’s presence reaches every community around the globe, mirroring the reach of the global NASA Space Apps Challenge community.
This October 5-6, NASA Space Apps Challenge participants will collaborate across borders, cultures, and experience levels, using NASA’s free and open data to conceptualize solutions to real-world challenges we face on Earth and in space. NASA Space Apps invites 2024 participants to consider the far-reaching influence of the Sun on all aspects of Earth and space science as they take on a variety of challenges, including ones authored by NASA Heliophysics scientists.
About NASA’s Helio Big Year
NASA’s Heliophysics Division studies the nature of the Sun and its influence on Earth and space. The Sun is the primary source of energy for Earth. As that energy moves around the planet, it drives wind and weather patterns, grows plants and supports ecosystems, and when trapped by greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere, affects our climate — all topics for our 2024 challenges.
NASA Heliophysics’ “Helio Big Year,” held from October 2023 to December 2024, invites the world to celebrate the power of the Sun’s influence by making heliophysics science and information accessible to all and inviting people to engage in citizen science activities. You can gather to witness a solar eclipse or an aurora and even follow Parker Solar Probe’s closest approach to the Sun.
“Our whole solar system – every planet and even the space in between them – is connected to and influenced by the Sun. It’s a good metaphor for our increasingly-connected world, where we need to think about how changes in one area can have widespread impacts,” said Sarah Frazier, Heliophysics Communications Manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
Celebrating the theme of “The Sun Touches Everything”
Registration for the 2024 NASA Space Apps Challenge opens on July 18. Join us as we celebrate the influence of the Sun and NASA Space Apps on everyone, everywhere. Share engaging Sun related activities and experiences, such as photos, videos, and creative expressions, on social media using the hashtags #SpaceApps and #HelioBigYear.
- Week of June 24:
- Share a piece of Sun related performance art that inspires you. It can even be your own!
- Weekly Read: “The Sun Touches Everything” blog post.
- Week of July 1: Share your Sunny Submissions! Share a sunrise and sunset from wherever you are in the world.
- Week of July 8: Test your knowledge about the Sun with #SpaceApps Trivia on our socials.
Wherever you are around the world, join NASA Space Apps and NASA Heliophysics as we highlight the universal power of global reach, collaboration, and innovation. Together, let’s explore how the Sun Touches Everything and inspires solutions that benefit our planet and beyond.
Connect with NASA Heliophysics to celebrate the #HelioBigYear!
Facebook: NASA Sun Science
X: @NASASun
Flickr: NASA_SDO
Connect with #SpaceApps!
X: @SpaceApps
Instagram: @nasa_spaceapps
Facebook: @spaceappschallenge
YouTube: @NASASpaceAppsChallenge
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