By 
February 18th, 2022
Here’s a challenge.
What inventive methods might work to help analyze and interpret data than can better understand the potential signs of past life on Mars?
That is the focus of a $30,000 prize purse, a crowdsourcing competition on behalf of NASA.
DrivenData, in collaboration with HeroX, announced today this unique challenge, and you’re invited to take part.
We now know that the Red Planet had environmental conditions that could have sustained life in the past. Understanding how these conditions persisted and changed is important to understanding Mars’ conditions for life over time.
Credit: NASA
EGA data
For this challenge, participants are tasked with building an innovative method to automatically analyze evolved gas analysis (EGA) data of simulated Mars samples collected on both commercial and laboratory instruments analogous to those used for Mars exploration. The best methods should be able to detect the presence of certain families of chemical compounds (specified in the challenge) in the samples.
By taking advantage of the many supporting experimental runs done on comparable rock samples, data science methods can be developed in order to support scientists in their analysis and interpretations of data collected by planetary mission instruments and laboratory instruments. These advancements may also help scientists more quickly and effectively conduct future mission operations.
The winning techniques may be used to help future planetary missions.
Wanted: inventive methods to better understand the potential signs of past life on Mars.
Credit: Newcastle University
This competition calls on innovators to analyze mass spectrometry data from Mars to detect conditions for past life. A prize purse of $30,000 will be shared among four teams.
Competition end date: April 18, 2022, 11:59 p.m. UTC
Accept the challenge
HeroX is a platform and open marketplace for crowdsourcing innovation and human ingenuity, co-founded in 2013 by serial entrepreneur, Christian Cotichini and XPRIZE founder and futurist, Peter Diamandis.
DrivenData is a social enterprise dedicated to bringing the data tools and methods that can tackle the world’s biggest challenges.
To accept the challenge and learn about eligibility requirements, go to:
https://www.herox.com/MarsSpectrometry?from=explore
Posted in Space News
