It’s hard to believe, but it’s been one year since we celebrated Terra’s 25th Anniversary! (In case you missed it, you can get all the highlights on the Terra website).

Today, we celebrate Terra for making yet another trip around the sun (and thousands around the Earth, too!) Happy 26 years (and counting!) to Terra and her five amazing instruments (ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS, and MOPITT)! Thank you for another year of collecting daily morning Earth science data and inspiring the world with your endurance.

Special thanks to the entire mission team, past and present, for doing all the “behind-the-scenes” hard work to keep Terra running all these years! We appreciate you all and hope you find a way to celebrate “The Hardest Working Satellite in Earth Orbit” with us, today!

Still want more Terra Anniversary content? Check out the links above and the list below!

• Complete Terra 25th Anniversary presentation recording
• Terra’s First Light Celebration (information and videos)
• Terra’s First Light 25th Anniversary Video

In honor of Terra’s recent 25th birthday, we decided to host a Terra Animation Celebration during this year’s 2025 Space Apps Challenge….

and we’re inviting YOU to join us!

Check out the following animated 😅 video for more information about NASA’s 2025 Space Apps Challenge event!

Do you have some spare time this weekend (October 4 – 5, 2025*) and want to collaborate with a group to craft unique Terra animations together? Register and find a Space Apps team now using the Space Apps Connect GitHub forum (also an excellent resource during the event!) — there’s even a virtual registration option!

During the event, a team of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) will be monitoring the GitHub forum above and answering any questions participants may have during the event. (Remember to add the Terra Animation Challenge tag to your discussion post!)

Our landing page on the NASA Space Apps website has a detailed list of resources your team can use during the event. Below, we’ve also included a Google Slideshow with examples of potential animated products created from each of Terra’s five instruments.

We hope you can join us this weekend! Good luck to all, and have fun!

*Teams should begin working on their project on Saturday, October 4. Project submission opens on Saturday, October 4 at 9:00 AM and closes on Sunday, October 5 at 11:59 PM in accordance with the time zone of your team’s Local Event. Submit a project to receive a participant certificate and to be eligible for Global Judging. No changes to the event timeline due to the government shutdown.

Registration is now open for this year’s NASA International Space Apps Challenge hackathon, to be held on October 4-5. This year, NASA is inviting innovators of all ages to Learn, Launch, Lead alongside a vibrant community of scientists, technologists, and storytellers at more than 450 Local Events worldwide.

Over the course of two days, teams will develop projects to address challenges using NASA’s open data and space-based data from Space Agency Partners. This year, participants can expect to learn skills to succeed in STEM fields, launch ideas that transform NASA’s open data into actionable tools, and lead their communities in driving technological innovation. 

For more information, check out the official Registration Toolkit, linked here, that includes all the important information, dates, and URL hyperlinks to guide you through the sign-up process!

What’s next?

1. August 21: Challenges revealed. This year’s 19 challenges were authored by NASA subject matter experts. 
2. September 16: Full challenge statements released, including NASA and space agency partner data sets. 
3. October 4-5: The NASA Space Apps Challenge is held worldwide!
4. October 6: Judging begins

Sneak Peak: Check back on August 21, when the Terra team will be providing additional information about one particular challenge involving data from our mission!