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Citizen Science

These 38 NASA science projects below are open to everyone (no citizenship required).  Through these projects, sometimes called "citizen science" or "participatory science" projects, volunteers and amateurs have helped make thousands of important scientific discoveries. Join NASA researchers and discover the secrets of the universe, search for life elsewhere, and protect and improve life on Earth and in space!  

Earth-shaped word cloud made up of the many languages in which NASA Citizen Science projects are available, including Arabic, Bengali, Croatian, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Nepali, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Thai, Urdu, and Vietnamese. In the center of the word cloud, the words Do NASA Science are prominent.

Translated citizen science materials

Enhanced color makes individual bands of rings stand out in comparison to one another.

More than 500 NASA citizen scientists co-authored publications

A grey-haired man and three young women, all in waders adn all with big smiles, stand knee-deep in water next to a LOCSS lake level gauge they are in the process of installing. The gauge itself is partially blocked from view by a black post, presumably the one on which they will mount the new gauge.

Who participates, why they do it and what they've discovered

Resources to help you collaborate with volunteers

Click a Project Below!

Or join our Do NASA Science email list! We'll send you monthly updates with news and new projects you can be a part of. Send an email to do-nasa-science-join@lists.nasa.gov with “Subscribe” in the subject. Be sure to confirm your subscription.

Growing Beyond Earth®

Middle and high school teachers in the U.S.: your students can test plants for use in space missions. Kid friendly!

OSDR AWG

Help astronauts and life thrive in space using space biology and health data. Laptop required. Data science knowledge is helpful.

Rubin Comet Catchers

Learn about those of the NASA corps who make “space sailing” their career profession.

Lunar Melt

Map the Moon’s Molten Flows using images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. For anyone with a laptop.

Snapshot Wisconsin

Track wildlife by classifying images captured on trail cameras. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Ozone Where We Live

Teachers and pilots near California’s San Joaquin Valley, help measure the quality of your air!

Space Cloud Watch

Photograph clouds just after sunset or before dawn to investigate our changing atmosphere. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Galaxy Zoo

Classify images of galaxies taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

X-Snow

New Yorkers: Help scientists measure snow on the ground using your phone! For anyone in the Catskills or Adirondacks region.

JunoCam

Share your images of Jupiter and participate in the JunoCam mission. For anyone with a laptop.

Exoasteroids

Search space telescope images for white dwarfs that flash as they devour asteroids. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Cloudspotting on Mars: Shapes

Map cloud formations in images of the Martian atmosphere. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Eclipsing Binary Patrol

Examine space telescope data to find special rare pairs of stars. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Backyard Worlds: Cool Neighbors

Discover Jupiter-like objects, balls of gas called brown dwarfs in our cosmic backyard. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Burst Chaser

Help decipher signals of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most energetic and mysterious explosions in the universe!

Chesapeake Water Watch

Live near the Chesapeake Bay? Take water-quality data with your smartphone.

Fresh Eyes on Ice

Live in Alaska? Report ice conditions to keep people safe and climate scientists informed.

Radio JOVE

Build your own radio telescope and study Jupiter, the Sun, the Earth’s Ionosphere, and the Milky Way galaxy.

Spritacular

Have a camera? Submit your own photographs of the colorful flashes of light seen above thunderclouds.

Landslide Reporter

See a landslide or read about one? Submit your observations. For anyone with a laptop.

International Astronomical Search Collaboration

Teams from schools and communities: Search for asteroids and help keep Earth safe. Kid friendly!

GLOBE Observer

Choose from several different projects to help scientists learn about planet Earth. For anyone with a smartphone. Kid friendly!

Daily Minor Planet

Discover asteroids and other small objects in the solar system. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

UNITE: Unistellar Network Investigating TESS Exoplanets

Use your telescope to observe planets beyond our solar system. Unistellar telescope required.

The Sungrazer Project

Discover new comets near the Sun. For anyone with a laptop.

Redshift Wrangler   

Clock the expansion of the universe using light from distant galaxies. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Mountain Rain or Snow

Near the mountains? Help climate scientists by using your cell phone to report rain and snow.

Fjord Phyto

Visiting Antarctica? Investigate changes in phytoplankton along the western Antarctic Peninsula.

Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation

Amateur radio operators: help scientists study Earth’s ionosphere

Exoplanet Watch

Track new planets beyond our solar system using backyard telescope data. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Dark Energy Explorers

Uncover dark energy, a mysterious force driving galaxies apart. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Backyard Worlds: Planet 9

Search the realm beyond Neptune for new planets, nearby stars and more. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Aurorasaurus

Submit your observations of the Northern and Southern lights.

Are we Alone in the Universe?

Examine radio signals to help search for intelligent life beyond Earth. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Active Asteroids

Inspect images to find comet-like objects hiding in the asteroid belt. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Lake Observations by Citizen Scientists and Satellites

Near a lake? Report the water level with your smartphone. Certain lakes only.

Disk Detective

Search for dusty disks around stars where distant worlds form and dwell. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Cloudspotting on Mars

Trace exotic clouds in the Martian atmosphere. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop.

Other Citizen Science Projects NASA Has Supported

Planet Hunter Tess

Search for planets outside our solar system using data from NASA’s TESS mission. For anyone with a smartphone or laptop. Read Project Summary

Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics

Find and track penguin colonies. For anyone with a laptop.

Floating Forests

Anyone with a cellphone or laptop can do this project.

NeMO-Net

Play an iPad game and classify coral reefs by painting images of coral. For anyone with an iPad. Kid friendly!

Soundscapes to Landscapes

Live in Sonoma County, CA? Investigate biodiversity by recording the sounds of bird calls.

Community Snow Observations

Near snow? Measure the depth with a ruler and report it with a smartphone to aid climate modeling and avalanche safety.

Two images of the moon's surface side by side, the left side is lighter than the right side and a new impact crater is highlighted in the right image. The title "Moon Diff" overlays the images. The "O's" in moon are images of the moon.

MoonDiff

Compare 1960s images to modern ones to spot changes in the Moon. For anyone with a laptop.

GLOBE Eclipse

This project is not currently seeking volunteers.

Heliophysics Audified: Resonances in Plasmas

This project is not currently seeking volunteers. Read Project Summary

Jovian Vortex Hunter

This project is not currently seeking volunteers. Read Project Summary

Solar Active Region Spotter

This project is not currently seeking volunteers.

A black square with the

Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative

This project is not currently seeking volunteers. Read Project Summary

Solar Jet Hunter

This project is not currently seeking volunteers. Read Project Summary

A black and white photo of

Stardust@Home

This project is not currently seeking volunteers.

An illustrated eclipse logo with a larger orange circle eclipsed by a slightly smaller black circle. There are 4 flares in the upper left side. The title SunSketcher sits below the log.

SunSketcher

This project is not currently seeking volunteers. Read Project Summary

Eclipse Megamovie

This project is not currently seeking volunteers. Read Project Summary

Citizen CATE 2024

This project is not currently seeking volunteers. Read Project Summary

Silhouette of a white cricket against a black background with a red and yellow gradient. Text reads Eclipse Soundscapes.org.

Eclipse Soundscapes

This project is not currently seeking volunteers. Read Project Summary