We’re building a more scientific future for everyone. Want to do astronomy? Want to learn about astronomy? Want to talk about astronomy? You can do it right here.

CosmoQuest is a virtual research facility where YOU become the researcher. We’ve even demonstrated that your crater marking skills match those of the experts in the field! Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to understand the Universe.

As you may have noticed, the funding opportunities for science, astronomy, planetary science, and science education have not been ideal in the past year or so. Though we work hard to bring in grants that support the research, site development, maintenance, education, and outreach activities here, private donations are also essential to keep the project and the community thriving. Last year, with your help, we raised $20,000 for astronomy research and education with a 32-Hour Hangoutathon. This year, we’ve set a higher goal.

April 26th-27th, we’ll have a 36-Hour Hangoutathon to support a more scientific future with CosmoQuest and our partners. This is just the kickoff, though. We’ll also have a 36-day fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $295,200 to support the work being done here. Individual donations as well as corporate sponsorships are welcome.

So how can you help?

• Donate, of course
• Suggest corporate sponsorship from your company
• SHARE the Hangoutathon, the donate page, and the mission of CosmoQuest
• DO SCIENCE
• Recruit more citizen scientists from your friends and networks
• Did I mention DO SCIENCE? We need crater markers!

We frequently get asked: why don’t you do a crowd-funding campaign like Kickstarter or Indiegogo? That’s an excellent question. Since CosmoQuest is hosted at a university, we are restricted in what tools we can use. However, we can use PayPal! So, although we can’t crowd-fund in the usual way, we can crowd-source donations by word of mouth. Hence the Hangoutathon, the 36-36 drive, and the plea for you to SHARE SHARE SHARE!

THIS is the weekend when it all starts. THIS is the time to chip however you can. Spread the word TODAY if you believe in crowd-sourced science, astronomy education, and the community that we’ve been building here over the last two years.

The planetary images are there. The planets are waiting to be mapped. YOU have already started the process. We need a little more help to push the science forward.

Still waiting for the Hangoutathon 2014 to start? You can always peruse the 2013 Hangoutathon videos, now split by topic with help from Guido Bibra!