For students ages 13-18

A natural disaster is a type of severe weather with the potential to pose significant threat to human health and safety. Natural disasters, especially wildfires, affect everyone around the world. Some are affected directly and others indirectly. NASA’s Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project is helping to improve wildfire coordination and operations using drones and advanced technologies. Wildfires are not the only natural disasters that affect human life, animal life, and the environment. Learn more about NASA’s ACERO project. 

NASAs Advanced Air Mobility mission focuses on, in part, the drone technology needed to gather data about how these automated aircraft can help air travel be more accessible, safe, and affordable. Smaller aircraft such as cargo-carrying drones and passenger-carrying air taxis will have the capability to serve hard-to-reach urban and rural locations. The ACERO project researches the use of this technology to help with preventing a natural disaster, mitigating during a natural disaster situation, and rebuilding after a natural disaster has occurred. 

The 2024 Dream with Us design challenge is asking for your help with ideas that will be shared with NASA’s ACERO project and others to design or improve current systems and technologies responding to natural disasters with new aviation such as drones and air taxis. Designs and improvements will focus on these areas:  

(1) help reduce natural disaster risks  

(2) help mitigate the situation during a natural disaster, and/or  

(3) help rebuild after a natural disaster has occurred.  

Drone technology can have hundreds of uses and we want you to dream of ways they can help with natural disasters. Since these new technologies will affect future generations, part of the challenge asks you to tell younger audiences why your drone’s work is important to them. 

To learn more and register, click here.