You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to crowdsource, but it doesn’t hurt.
Crowdsourcing is the process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.[1]
NASA is using Crowdsourcing for Open Innovation Contracts.
NASA is turning to the public and crowdsourcing for outside-the-box thinking about human space exploration challenges with a series of 10 new NASA Open Innovation Service (NOIS) Contracts.
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-uses-crowdsourcing-for-open-innovation-contracts/
[1] “Crowdsourcing – Definition and More”. Merriam-Webster.com. August 31, 2012. Retrieved 2014-02-03.