SuperpowEARTH

Background

There are many Earth processes that scientists monitor and study to gain further understanding of the functions and future of the Earth. Why can we breathe this air, but not the air on Mars? Where do the living things that decompose go? What about emissions into the air— whether they are natural or human-made— where do those chemicals go? The questions are endless. NASA’s Earth observation studies and satellites seek to answer these questions. The answers we have so far are fascinating!

Our planet already has many ways it helps cleanse itself of “garbage,” such as the nutrient cycles that take place during photosynthesis, and the decomposition processes that take place during composting. Earth cycles are natural processes where elements are continuously cycled in various forms between different compartments of the environment. This is Earth’s way of recycling nutrients and minerals to continually sustain life. The Earth has other very interesting processes, such as bird migration patterns, extreme weather, ocean currents, and so forth.

The Space Apps 2021 theme this year is about power, so if the Earth were to have a more extreme ability— one could say a “superpower”— what could it be? Any topic related to the environment can be considered. How would you capture the power, beauty, and essence of the Earth in a figure or character with superpowers, and why did you select those superpowers?

Objectives

Your challenge is to (1) Personify one of the Earth’s abilities into a superhero figure. To personify means to “represent (a quality or concept) by a figure in human form,” or to “represent or embody a quality or concept in a physical form.” Draw, sketch, or electronically create a superhero you think fits right in at NASA. (2) Now that you have a figure to capture the astounding powers of the Earth, think of an extra superpower that would help the planet and the environment.

The objectives of this challenge are to encompass the strength and amazing ability of the Earth, and also represent inclusivity and other values that NASA upholds, such as safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion. To do this, participants will have to:

1. Research NASA open-source data and familiarize themselves with some cycles and abilities of the Earth that interests them
2. Personify the functions of the Earth into a figure and illustrate it into a submittable format
3. Include a superpower that you think the planet is in need of given the current state of the global environment

Potential Considerations

To start, it may be helpful to set a goal of any particular message or content you want to highlight in your creation. How can you achieve this goal while also fully answering the prompt?

When creating the figure, some helpful ways to brainstorm could be to think of one or two words that come to mind when you think of “Earth” and the processes.

Your figure and superpower can be hand-drawn, electronically created in a drawing program, made into a video explaining why you designed your figure this way, or anything else you can think of! The possibilities are endless.

What do YOU think is important to relay to the public about environmental science?

The figure could be in the shape of a classical superhero, but anything you think of is acceptable! We invite you to be original, and not copy or parody things that already exist in pop culture.

If you're still stuck on the drawing and illustration part, check out the past submissions for the Space Apps 2020 challenge, Create A Mascot for inspiration.

For data and resources related to this challenge, refer to the Resources tab at the top of the page. More resources may be added before the hackathon begins.

NASA does not endorse any non-U.S. Government entity and is not responsible for information contained on non-U.S. Government websites.