A meteor app for your phone? Space lovers to create software at weekend event

TORONTO – A smartphone app that warns about menacing meteors is just one practical application that could be developed this weekend.

Canadian cities will play host this weekend to scores of space-minded hackers who will take part in a 48-hour international programming marathon.

It’s known as the NASA International Space Apps Challenge, and Toronto and Winnipeg are among the 75 cities around the world that will bring together 8,000 scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs.

Participants in 41 countries will form teams and, using data collected by NASA’s spacecraft, will develop software that could used in everything from games to tools that help farmers.

Jonathan Moneta, one of the organizers of the Toronto event, claims it’s the largest hackathon in world history and the possibilities are endless.

As examples, he says the hackers could develop phone apps that would be used to spot a satellite, understand weather patterns or even alert earthlings to a meteor that’s headed for the planet.

The Toronto event will be held at the Royal Ontario Museum and the Winnipeg one is at the University of Manitoba.