Who can enter? 

The contest is open to middle-school through high-school students in the United States (including U.S. Territories and schools operated by the U.S for the children of American personnel overseas). 

What to do

We would like you to create original art that explores the connection between the human drive to explore, discover, and understand our origins and our place in the natural world on Earth to the origins of our solar system as epitomized by the Lucy Mission.

Enter the contest

Submit original artwork or creative media and an essay or poem describing your art.

For Middle School students (grades 5 through 8)

Design your own “mission patch” showing how the process of evolution on Earth may parallel the evolution of the solar system. Explain the design with a poem or short essay (500 words or less, not including spaces). 

For High School students (grades 9 through 12)

Create a message in the form of original artwork (drawing, paintings, digital images, photographs, photographs of sculptures—be creative as you wish!) or a three-minute maximum time (300MB maximum size) .mp4 file video to the future finders* of the Lucy spacecraft highlighting humankind’s drive to explore, discover, and understand our origins—on Earth and in the solar system—and emphasize the connection between the discovery of the Lucy fossil and NASA’s Lucy Space Mission. Include an essay or poem as a message and/or description of the artwork (1000 words or less, not including spaces)

*The spacecraft will orbit the sun for about one million years, and our descendants may rendezvous with it in some distant future.

Dates

• Competition launch date October 16, 2020 (one year before the Lucy Mission launch)
• Competition close date 5:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time, March 16, 2021
• Winners announced May 14, 2021
• Lucy Mission launch window begins October 16, 2021

What do I win?

There will be a first place, second place, and third place winner for the middle school level and a first place, second place, and third place winner for the high school level. There will be seven honorable mention winners for each category as well.

First Place 

• First place winners will receive a virtual/online visit to their school (or, in the case of a home school winner, to their home or a suitable group presentation) by Donald Johanson PhD and by either Principal Investigator of the Lucy Mission, Hal Levison PhD or the Deputy Principal Investigator Cathy Olkin PhD, who will give a presentation to the entire school or select classes, as determined by the school administrator(s) who must approve.
• The first-place winner and their family and teacher will receive a VIP invitation to the launch of the Lucy Mission at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and a tour of the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex facilities open to the public (we are sorry but this contest will not provide financial support for flights, transportation, or lodging to Florida). If you are unable to travel to Florida for the launch, or the launch does not happen on October 21, 2021, you, your family, and your teacher, will be able to see the launch online with interaction with the NASA and Southwest Research Institute scientists.
• The winning entries will be printed and displayed prominently at the launch and publicized on NASA, ASU Ask An Anthropologist Lucy-in-Space, and Southwest Research Institute websites.
• A certificate signed by Donald Johanson and Lucy Mission Principal Investigator Hal Levison
• Lucy Mission merchandise as available (poster, mission patch, etc)

Second Place 

• The second-place winner will receive a letter of recognition signed by Donald Johanson and Lucy Mission Principal Investigator Hal Levison
• Second place entry will be featured on the ASU Ask An Anthropologist Lucy-in-Space website
• Signed copy of a book by Donald Johanson
• Lucy Mission merchandise as available (poster, mission patch, etc)

Third Place

• The third-place winner will receive a letter of recognition signed by Donald Johanson and Lucy Mission Principal Investigator Hal Levison
• Third place entry will be featured on the ASU Ask An Anthropologist Lucy-in-Space website
• Lucy Mission merchandise as available (poster, mission patch, etc)

Special Mentions

• Special Mention winners will receive a certificate signed by Donald Johanson and Lucy Mission Principal Investigator Hal Levison 
• Special Mention winners will be featured on the ASU Ask An Anthropologist Lucy-in-Space website

Teachers

This contest, supporting and identifying applicable Next Generation Science Standards, will engage students in our connection to science, engineering, and technology, and to the themes of exploration and discovery that will show students how they are connected to humankind’s history and their future as well. We encourage you to challenge your entire class to participate.

How do I enter?

YOU MUST READ ALL THE CONTEST RULES ON THE “CONTEST RULES” PAGE BEFORE YOU CAN ENTER!

Entries can be submitted beginning October 16, 2020.

You must have parental consent to participate in the contest. Your parents must complete and sign the Parental Consent form.

Mail the completed and signed Parental Consent form in with your entry or, if you are submitting digitally, take a photo of or scan the completed and signed Parental Consent form and send the digital file along with your contest entry. Any entries that do not have a completed Parental Consent Form will not be considered.

Entries must include three parts:

(1) the patch design/artwork, photograph, video, or other creative product

(2) essay or poem

(3) Entry with Parental Consent Form

Two ways to submit your entry:

(1) BY MAIL—Mail in your patch design/artwork and essay/poem along with the Parental Consent Form to:

Lucy in Space Contest
ASU Institute of Human Origins
PO Box 874101
Tempe AZ 85287-4101

OR

(2) DIGITAL SUBMISSION—upload your patch design/artwork/video and essay along with the Entry and Parental Consent Form through this submission form

https://askananthropologist.asu.edu/lucy-space-contest

When you submit your name and email address, you will receive an email with a Dropbox link to upload your artwork/video and essay and Parental Consent Form. Follow the instructions to upload your artwork/video and poem/essay and Parental Consent Form. 

REMEMBER—PUT YOUR NAME ON THE DIGITAL FILE NAME FOR YOUR PATCH DESIGN/ARTWORK/VIDEO AND ESSAY BUT DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THE ACTUAL ARTWORK/VIDEO OR ESSAY—This will help ensure fair judging.

EXAMPLE for file names: SmithArtwork.jpg, Smithvideo.mp4, SmithEssay.docx, SmithParentalConsent.pdf