Moonhack 2022 Launches for the Next Generation of Coders

Once again, the next generation of coders across Australia and the world will have the opportunity to participate in the Moonhack challenge. This year Moonhack will take place during World Space Week which is celebrating the launch of the first satellite into space - Sputnik. Moonhack will showcase the role of natural and human-made satellites with its theme Satellites in our World.

In 2021, there were over 25,000 registrations for Moonhack, and since its beginning, there have been over 150,000 participants. The Moonhack program is run through Code Club Australia, which is supported by the Telstra Foundation. Code Club makes it easy and accessible for young people to learn a skill of the future - coding.

Three different programming languages are used across the six Moonhack projects. These projects are suitable for a range of ages and skills.

For Australian registrants, there are three Starter Coding Kits up for grabs in a giveaway for the 100th, 1,000th, and 2,500th registration.  

Out of the 169 UN Sustainable Development Goals, 63 of them involve satellite technology. There are six brand new Moonhack projects to choose from this year. Each of the projects is designed to highlight an aspect of how natural and man-made satellites are used in everyday life.

Stop the Fires is a mid-level project run using Scratch. This project will get participants to create a clicker game that uses a satellite to tell crews on Earth where fires are breaking out.

Tagai Constellation is used by Torres Straight Islanders to navigate the oceans and know when important events occur during the year. This project is a mid-level Scratch project where participants will create an animation of the story of Tagai and learn about how the constellation is used today.

Satellites in Space is a lower-level Scratch project. Participants will create a timed game to get a satellite safely back to Earth while avoiding stars.

What Will I Wear? is a higher-level Scratch project. Participants will create an animation that shows a weather satellite being launched into orbit and how this helps us make decisions that relate to the weather.

Light is a Python project run in collaboration with Dr Brad Tucker. Participants will calculate exact sunrise and sunset times, moonrise and moonset, and civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight. Participants then use this information to determine the best optimal times to turn lights on and off to be as energy efficient as possible.

Save the Trees is a lower-level Micro:Bits project. Participants will virtually build a device that lets rangers know when a tree falls in a forest, either naturally or because of people.

Check out more detailed information about each of the projects here.  

Moonhack registrations opened on August 23, so you are able to sign up right now! Registrations are open for six weeks, right up until Moonhack begins. The challenge will run for two weeks this year, from October 10 to October 23.

SpaceAustralia.com is once again excited to be collaborating with Code Club Australia on the Moonhack program as part of our InspiringNextGen campaign. Our InspiringNextGen campaign encourages young people to take up interests, practices, and resources to skill the future Australian workforce, which will in turn seed Australia and New Zealand’s space communities in the future.