A Toronto team has been recognized with a global award from one of the world’s top authorities on space — NASA.
Kid On The Moon initially participated in the Toronto Space Apps Challenge, a hackathon that took place between April 22-24 that invited participants to tackle NASA-inspired challenges. The event was hosted by Symbility Intersect, with support from the City of Toronto and StartUp HERE Toronto.
Kid On The Moon emerged as one of two nominations for the Global NASA Space Apps Challenge, and this week was named the global winner of the NASA Space Apps Challenge for Most Inspirational project.
“Toronto is a city full of creative people actively contributing to science, technology, and innovations around the world,” said Toronto Mayor John Tory. “I’m proud to see a Toronto team recognized by NASA and representing Toronto-made innovation on the global stage.”
Kid On The Moon is an interactive app meant to inspire children between 4-8 to become passionate about space travel through self-guided exploration of the moon, both on and offline. The team worked on the solution as part of the competition’s Book It To The Moon category, which asked participants to create an app that helps children locate the moon.
Overall, 15,000 people worldwide took part in the 5th annual NASA Space Apps Challenge, with over 1,200 projects developed.
“This event brings together the STEM community in a unique way to collaboratively tackle complex problems,” said James Costa, lead organizer of NASA’s Space Apps Toronto. “With SpaceX’s recent Falcon 9 tests and NASA’s ongoing achievement in space exploration, this is a great time to get kids excited and thinking about careers in space again.”