Hackers Tried to Sway NASA Student Competition Results

Public voting in a NASA student science competition was shut down after a group of hackers tried to sway the voting results, Newsweek reported.

Eight finalists were in the running in a public vote for favorite projects, until the vote was shut down over attempts to sway the vote away from a group of three black girls from Banneker Academic High School in Washington, D.C., The Root reported.

"Unfortunately, it was brought to NASA’s attention yesterday that some members of the public used social media, not to encourage students and support STEM, but to attack a particular student team based on their race and encourage others to disrupt the contest and manipulate the vote, and the attempt to manipulate the vote occurred shortly after those posts," a NASA statement said.

In the Optimus Prime Spinoff Promotion and Research Challenge competition, students worked individually or in small groups to show how NASA technology could have everyday uses. The winner would get to work for two days with scientists and astronauts at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Newsweek’s report said.

A NASA spokesperson said that the public vote being shut down would not affect the competition, because that vote was not used to pick the winner.

NASA judges make the choice, and public voting is a "secondary factor that judges may consider," the spokesperson told Newsweek.

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