This year's NASA annual International Space Apps Challenge will take place on April 12 and 13. Main aim of the event to take place this weekend will be to let participants create apps that can add to space exploration or help improve life on Earth.

In total, 40 different challenges will be organized emerging from five different themes, Earth Watch, Human Space flight, Asteroids, Technology in Space and Robotics. Based on New York City, the event will be organized in more than 100 locations over a 48-hour period.

It is on the participants as what mode they choose to express the theme and it could be educational space apps or design for space travel equipment. It shall however, be noted that all solutions will be open source.

Participants have to use only openly available data provided through NASA missions and technology. This year's challenges include developing a game to travel across solar system moving from asteroid to asteroid; designing a concept for 'deployable greenhouse' for use on a mission to Mars and designing a space app to depict the positions of missions that are active in space.

It was the conversation on what it really means to innovate that gave birth to the Space Apps Challenge. Mike Caprio, community organizer for StartupBus and co-organizer of Space Apps NYC, was of the view he was associated with NASA organizers by Aaron Huslage, one of early members of Safecast. He later co-organized the first years of the event in New York City.

The event has witnessed a steady growth with over 20 Space Apps locations in 2012 and around 80 locations in 2013. This year, there are around 100 sites taking part in the event across the world.

"This is a truly historic event: thousands of people all across the world, under the guidance of one of the most technologically elite organizations on the planet, working together to improve life", affirmed Caprio. Prizes will be given and NASA focuses on teamwork than on individual winnings.