Kalawakan - Space Apps Challenge

Kalawakan| Create a Mascot

Create a Mascot

The world is full of scientific information that can help us make informed decisions and take action. However, that information is not always accessible to young learners. Your challenge is to create a mascot that can help make learning about Earth and space science more fun and welcoming for younger audiences.

Astro Aspera

Summary

Astro Aspera is a friendly robot/cyborg who defeats enemies like Karens and Chads who intentionally spread misinformation and misconceptions about science. He detects the data using satellites and navigates his way using Google Earth. He makes wormholes to suck the enemies into vast nothingness. After saving the people, he educates them to better understand science in order to help the world and the future.

How We Addressed This Challenge

Astro Aspera’s mission is toprovide information to curious children, especially those who do not have access to the internet and those who have a hard time understanding data and information on the internet.

How We Developed This Project

Astro Aspera was first developed to be the persona of one of the team members for a passion project he was doing, as the host of an astronomy series he wanted to do, which is still in development. He was designed to be a kid-friendly character, one that could hopefully get kids interested in astronomy. Inspired by superheroes like Iron Man, Astro Aspera was designed to look like a robot/cyborg, however, special care was taken to avoid too many similarities to Iron Man. He was given superpowers like flight, wormhole generation, and holographic projection in order to help viewers make sense of the universe.

We decided to use him for the NASA Space Apps Challenge, since there was an initial idea behind him, that being a superhero to get children to like astronomy. During development, we realized that he lacked character, so we developed him into a superhero who fights off misinformation and fights for science, since misinformation and fake news are prevalent nowadays. Since he was designed for kids, one of the members suggested that he be a big brother figure to young kids, similar to Barney.

We decided to expand on his powers to make him align more with his mission, and gave him the ability to use Google Earth to navigate and the ability to use satellites to collect data. We also expanded upon his wormhole creation ability, this time allowing him to vanquish his enemies using them.

We drew Astro digitally on Sketchbook, redesigning him in the process. In the initial design, he had a yellow insignia and had lighter blue and gray parts. The yellow insignia was removed, and the blue and gray parts were darkened in order to make him look like a NASA spacecraft. NASA data was incorporated in the form of photos, which were added to Astro during his different “modes.” After finalizing his design, we designed a comic book cover featuring Astro and created animations showcasing his powers and abilities.

How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project

Astro Aspera has access to NASA Satellite Images and, with his holographic projector, present these images and data to children who would love to see it in order to inform them. He also interprets the data for the children in such a way that allows them to easily understand and appreciate its significance.