Who can take part in Mission Zero? Anyone who is:

• 14 years or younger
• In a team of two to four or, for the 2020-2021 program only, individuals
• Supervised by a teacher, mentor, or parent who has registered and has a classroom code

Additionally, 50% or more of the team’s members need to be citizens of an ESA Member/Associate member State . For more information, check out the Mission Zero Guidelines . Participants who don't meet these eligibility requirements can still make an unofficial submission to receive a Certificate of participation, but their programs will not be evaluated to run on the International Space Station.

Follow these steps to get started:

1. Write your program

Your program should read the humidity and display information using the LEDs. Visit the Mission Zero Step By Step Guide for a full walkthrough including examples, animations, videos and more.

2. Enter Your Classroom Code

3. Submit

Once you've passed all the checks, click the button to go to the official submission form. Enter your team name and other information carefully, since this will be used to generate your certificate.

Once reviewed and accepted, your code will run for up to 30 seconds on one of the International Space Station's Raspberry Pi computers! Your registered teacher, mentor, or parent will receive official confirmation of this and a certificate from the Astro Pi team.

What is Flight Status?

Flight Status means that your program will be sent to the International Space Station. Flight Status is available to those who participate that are under 14, from and ESA Member State, and a team of 2-4 or, for the 2020-2021 program only, individuals.

Participants who don't meet these eligibility requirements can still make an unofficial submission to receive a Certificate of Participation, but their programs will not be evaluated to run on the International Space Station.

When will submissions be accepted?

Submissions for this year's challenge will be accepted from 14 September 2020 to 19 March 2021.

Where can I find more detailed instructions?

The Mission Zero Step By Step Guide has been created to guide you through the activity. You may want to keep it open in a separate window or tab for easy reference.

What if my program goes over 30 seconds?

Each submission will have up to 30 seconds of runtime in space. After 30 seconds, the program will be automatically stopped. The timer will help you see how much of your program will run during this time. If your program uses a while loop or takes longer than 30 seconds to finish, use the Stop button to halt the execution of your program so that you can submit it.

I'm getting an error! What do I do?

First, don't panic! Errors are a normal part of programming: they just indicate that the computer is confused.

The emulator should highlight the line on which the error is occurring. Check for any missing punctuation like missing commas, brackets and colons. Failing that, simply typing the error message into a search engine will quickly find an answer.

How can I view my past submissions?

Registered teachers, mentors, or parents will receive an email confirmation from the Astro Pi team for each submission that uses their code. You will also be provided with a link to your trinket after submitting your work to the Astro Pi: Mission Zero Challenge. You can save, bookmark, or send this link to someone else to show off your entry!

What if I still have questions?

Please refer to the Mission Zero Guidelines for full program rules. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for there, please get in touch at astropi@esa.int