NASA’s 2026 citizen-science selections include 12 seed proposals still under grant review and seven projects from a separate program, expanding volunteer participation in research across space and Earth science.
NASA received 41 proposals for its Citizen Science Seed Funding Program. The agency’s selection record shows that 12 passed an initial screening and are moving through reviews of program fit, finances and compliance. They have not completed the grant process. The program supports projects as they start or make major changes. Awards can last up to one year, and NASA expects funded work to produce peer-reviewed research.
The seven Science Activation projects belong to a wider group of 24 proposals selected to advance to award. NASA’s selection record lists $23.5 million in first-year funding for that full cohort. Science Activation connects communities with NASA data, experts and research activities.
Among the seed proposals, The Rogue Worlds Project would invite volunteers to look through SPHEREx observations for free-floating planets and brown dwarfs. Planet Hunters Roman would use microlensing signals to help identify exoplanets in data from NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Other proposals include monitoring magnetometers in Alaska, searching lunar data for iron deposits, and tracking comets and asteroids with small telescopes.
The seven Science Activation efforts include classroom crop research, comet searches and public access to robotic telescopes. RIPPLES will expand public monitoring of lake and reservoir levels. NASA says participant observations will help check satellite readings from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. Another project will use high-resolution satellite images to study changes in wildlife habitat in Antarctica. NASA plans activities from the wider cohort across all 50 states and U.S. territories.
NASA cites the Sungrazer Project as an example of citizen science: volunteers have recorded 5,204 comet discoveries since the project began in 2006.
