The Asteroid Grand Challenge Contest is NASA's newest contest, open to amateur astronomers. This contest will award $35,000 over six months to private scientists who develop algorithms to assist in the search for deadly asteroids.
Beginning on March 17, entrants may start submitting their proposed functions. Algorithms may be submitted to NASA through the month of August. NASA's Tournament Lab is managing the contest in association with Planetary Resources Inc., headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. That company was founded to mine asteroids for valuable materials.
The newly-launched contest will be part of the space agency's Asteroid Grand Challenge. This is a drive by the agency to map all asteroids that pose a danger to Earth.
Observatories on Earth take millions of photos of objects throughout the heavens. Within these photographs are many asteroids. Astronomers want to know how many of these bodies may be headed toward Earth. To that end, NASA needs a new computer algorithm to search out asteroids within these images.
"Protecting the planet from the threat of asteroid impact means first knowing where they are. By opening up the search for asteroids, we are harnessing the potential of innovators and makers and citizen scientists everywhere to help solve this global challenge," Jenn Gustetic, Prizes and Challenges Program executive, said.
In order for an entry to win, the proposed formula will need to minimize the number of false positive measurements while simultaneously increasing sensitivity over current algorithms. In addition, such a system must be able to work on inconsistent photographs, which contain errors, and the application needs to work on all major computer systems.
"Current asteroid detection initiatives are only tracking one percent of the estimated objects that orbit the Sun. We are excited to partner with NASA in this contest to help increase the quantity and knowledge about asteroids that are potential threats, human destinations, or resource rich," Chris Lewicki, president of Planetary Resources, Inc., said in a statement.
Around 65 million years ago, the Earth was struck by an asteroid six miles across. When it exploded, the blast created wildfires around the world. Smoke rising from these blazes caused the sky to darken, blacking out the Sun for years. This led to the extinction of most life on Earth, including the dinosaurs.
Unlike many sciences, amateurs can make real contributions to the field of astronomy. To enter your own algorithm in the contest, visit the official Web site.
