Two Irish teams advance to final of Nasa Space Apps Challenge
Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Ray McAdam was at NCI Dublin today to recognise the two teams from Dublin Mission Control going forward to compete at this year’s Nasa Space Apps Challenge.
The global nominees received trophies sponsored by InnaLabs and goodie bags from the European Space Agency (ESA) and Code Week Europe.
The first winner, Team Outer Wilds Ventures were selected for their project Embiggen Your Eyes!/Zoomers, which was designed to visualise massive astronomical datasets.
Every day, Nasa missions capture high-resolution images of planets, moons, and galaxies, but much of this data remains scattered across different platforms and is difficult for the public to explore, so images remain unseen and unused. Team Outer Wild Ventures developed a Web platform that transforms these massive imagery datasets into simple maps. Using a tile-based system, it loads gigabyte-scale images in real time, allowing users to seamlessly zoom in, compare datasets side-by-side, and mark anomalies or interesting features directly on the map.
The second team going forward to the international finals, Team KARLVerse, were recognised for their AI-powered space habitat design platform HabitatForge.
HabitatForge is an AI-powered space habitat design platform that revolutionizes how engineers and mission planners create safe, efficient space habitats for Mars, Moon, and Gateway missions. By integrating NASA’s rigorous safety standards (NASA-STD-3001, 3000, 8709.22, 5005) with cutting-edge artificial intelligence, the platform automatically generates compliant habitat layouts while providing real-time constraint validation and 3D visualization.
“It’s always inspiring to see the creativity and ambition of our students and participants at NASA Space Apps Dublin. This year’s projects showed exceptional innovation and teamwork, with ideas that reach far beyond the weekend itself. Congratulations to our global nominees and the Community Choice Award winners, they’ve done NCI proud and continue to demonstrate how curiosity and collaboration can drive real-world impact,” said Prof Paul Stynes, Dean of NCI’s School of Computing.
This year, Dublin Mission Control reached a full-house, with participants coming from a range of backgrounds, notably including a group of under-18s who were supported in developing their projects by educators from NCI’s Early Learning Initiative and dedicated STEM mentors from NCI’s School of Computing.
Community choice winners
Team DeepEnd from Cross & Passion College in Kilcullen, Co. Kildare received this year’s community choice award and an ESA Rising Stars prize for the best under-18 participants.
The team of TY students Archer Davis, Meryem Atasever and Runé Swart used React.js, Veo AI, and Nasa Open Data to build Astro Defenders, an educational game designed to make real Nasa asteroid data fun and accessible for children aged eight to twelve. Players encounter live meteors from Nasa’s API, collect them into a personalised ‘Spacepedia,’ and explore fun facts about asteroids while earning points and power-ups, blending science, creativity, and education to inspire curiosity about space exploration.
Paola Vercesi, NASA Space Apps Dublin local lead, said: “The advancing projects, along with this year’s community choice award winner, stood out for ingenuity, clarity, and collaborative spirit… Space Apps Dublin has once again confirmed itself as a moment of connection, curiosity, and outreach, where space becomes tangible thanks to the passion of our challengers, the dedication of our organising team, and the inspiring voices from industry and academia who joined us this year.”
Both teams will now advance to the global judging phase of the Nasa Space Apps Challenge. The winners will be announced on 18 December.
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