NASA and IBM Collaborate for Space App Challenge

For the fourth year in a row, NASA will be holding the Space App Challenge event in multiple locations across the globe. Part of the NASA incubator innovation program, the Space App Challenge is a three-day coding competition in which over 10,000 participants develop applications, software, hardware, and data visualization platforms which address 35 challenge areas provided by NASA. This year, the competition’s main themes are: outer space, earth, humans, and robotics. Challenges include: developing a “deep space CamSat” or a nano-satellite/CubeSat which can orbit outer space and take pictures during planetary flybys (events of interest), designing a “stream gazer” data visualization tool to animate changes over time in the United States’ stream and river network, and developing a quad-copter drone which can assist in moving five-pound items within a space station or spacecraft. This year IBM will be offering participants free access to their cloud development platform, Bluemix, to facilitate composition, testing, and deployment of their apps. Released in June 2014, Bluemix is a cloud platform as a service (PaaS). Running on SoftLayer infrastructure, the service supports several programming languages and is based on Cloud Foundry open technology. Bluemix offers an Internet of Things sensor-based app as a boilerplate and developers can also work with code which is specially-purposed for data management, mobile, DevOps, and other categories. Bluemix also offers a set of cognitive apps, called Watson, which includes programs such as Visual Recognition, Message Resonance, and Tradeoff Analytics. Two projects from each city will be accepted into a second round of judging. In addition, IBM will offer a separate set of 30 awards for the best use of Bluemix. Via our proprietary website ASAP Aerospace, ASAP Semiconductor is a leading supplier of IBM products. Prospective customers can browse our inclusive inventory of hard-to-find obsolete and current IBM parts at www.asap-aerospace.com. If you are interested in a part, please feel free to contact our knowledgeable sales staff at sales@asap-aerospace.com or 1-714-705-4780 for a quote.