A recent open call on Freelancer.com caught the eye of techies and space rangers from across the globe. NASA has invited the general public to help them create a special “space smartwatch” for astronauts to use on the International Space Station.
Reports say that anyone can join the contest, but they need to be prepared to showcase their science skills at a high level. Participants must create wireframe images showing how the apps will display crew schedules, warnings, communication status, alerts, and timers. The best projects will be easy to read on small screens and offer creative ways to present common data.
The prize, in addition to immortal glory in the annals of NASA, is $1,500. It may not sound like much, but imagine having NASA on your resume before you graduate high school.
At this point, you might be asking: couldn’t NASA create their own app in just a day? Yes, they probably could. But the design isn’t the main focus. The contest is. NASA is still feeling the impact of losing the shuttle program and the drop in public interest and respect. They are working on creative PR strategies like never before… and this is just one of those ideas.
NASA’s Tournament Lab created and marketed the contest. The Lab is a division of the Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation, which is trying to elicit ideas from the private sector to keep NASA in the news. Driving up social media buzz is not only a necessary evil for PR these days, it is an absolute necessity. Even guys who walked on the moon are not immune.
Expect more of this sort of thing to come out of the NASA technology PR machine in the coming months. After all, astronauts need more than watches. What’s next for NASA? Their own version of Google Glass, perhaps? Well, yes, actually, they are already working on that.