NASA estimates that there are hundreds of millions of asteroids in our solar system, millions of which are dangerously close to Earth. Apophis is one of these, a 1,066-foot (325 meters) asteroid with a close fly by to Earth expected in 2029.

To activate the best deflection technique – and prevent dangerous impacts – for all near Earth asteroids, NASA must first determine the asteroid’s material composition. NASA accomplishes this by measuring the sunlight refracted off an asteroid’s surface. These light wavelength patterns are called light spectroscopy, or “spectra”.

Currently, NASA has large backlogs of asteroid spectra. To date, computers cannot accurately recognize nuances in spectra data—only the human eye has the pattern recognition capabilities needed for characterization. Unfortunately, NASA lacks the human resources needed to sort through their massive dataset. At their current rate, it will take the scientific community 200 years to characterize all near Earth asteroids.

To help solve this problem, we brainstormed novel ways in which technology could be used to galvanize as many human eyes as possible to help with asteroid characterization. Due to their massive popularity, we decided mobile games would be the best place to start.

We studied the most in demand game genres on the market (puzzle, match-3 and arcade shooter) and combined them to create something entirely new with the intent that our game would engage players long enough for them to make a meaningful scientific contribution.

Developed in partnership with Verizon and NASA, Apophis 2029 is a fun and innovative mobile game for iOS and Android devices that challenges anybody with a mobile device to help NASA characterize asteroid spectra—and help defend the Earth.

Apophis 2029 is currently being beta tested by astronomers and engineers at NASA and will launch this fall.

Apophis 2029 demonstrates how Verizon technology, when partnered with NASA’s asteroid database, can make a positive difference in the world while engaging a wider audience and bringing positive equity to the Verizon brand.

Our strategic objective was to change Millennial perception of Verizon from a telecom to a technology leader. Apophis 2029 gives Verizon the ability to build brand equity with consumers and to show that they are more than a “dumb pipe” delivering network signal, but rather a technology company that is pioneering innovative ways to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.

The game’s characterization taxonomy component was developed in cooperation with scientists and engineers at NASA, MIT, Harvard-Smithsonian Institute for Astrophysics and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA uses the data produced by Apophis 2029 to help them improve their own algorithms and solidify strategies on how to deflect or destroy potential asteroid threats in the event that they detect one on a collision course with Earth.

To ensure that our game was ‘sticky’ enough to hook gamers in and keep them coming back to the app, we turned to the massive popularity of Match 3 and arcade-style game play to boost engagement. In the game, players race against time, matching puzzle pieces to destroy asteroids before they collide with the Earth. As they match, players unlock and collect “Data Cubes,” game pieces that contain real NASA asteroid spectra.

Uncategorized spectra data is uploaded from NASA’s database via the Verizon Cloud to the game. Players match their collected spectra to one of the nine possible taxonomy classes it most resembles. Characterized spectra data is then sent back to NASA via the Verizon Cloud for further analysis.

Apophis 2029 will be launching this fall on both the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store. This will make the game available to the hundreds of million device owners in America, who can lend their eyes to help evaluate, filter and characterize asteroid threats that currently exist in the NASA asteroid database. Our goal was simple, yet aspirational: We wanted to help NASA accelerate the asteroid research that is most important in averting potential threats.

Given the number of players we expect to participate, we believe that in mere weeks, we will categorize, with a high degree of confidence, over 65,000 asteroids for the astronomy community.

NASA believes that this initiative will be the largest citizen science project ever undertaken and could change the trajectory of how we think about designing games to generate real world impact.

For Verizon and other technology leaders, Apophis 2029 demonstrates how it’s possible to capitalize on an already established human behavior (mobile gaming) and create something that is engaging, while providing real benefit to the world.