High-Level Project Summary
We learn better, we understand better, and we achieve goals better, when we see it. That’s what youth can do through Augmented Reality. We have developed an application based on this concept which will enable the youths to visualize the whole journey of Parker Solar Probe to the Sun. Parker Solar Probe is the only man made object that touches the Sun. It is a unique user experience, eliminates cognitive overload of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information. It is important because today the Sun affects our lives in many ways, so we should know about the Sun and its mystery.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
The solution to this challenge from us is the provision of an application based on Augmented Reality (AR) which will help to visualize the whole journey of Parker Solar Probe to the Sun by rotating and moving the device that would contain this application. We can actually visualize how Parker Solar Probe was launched from the Earth, how it used Venus Gravity Assist to get closer to the Sun, its entire trajectory followed by how it gathered information about the Sun and its atmosphere and then finally fell into the Sun.
Firstly, we used 2D core to make the main menu that has 3 parts. Each of them are 3 different 3D core views. The different parts of Parker Solar Probe was shown, its trajectory lines and new discoveries were incorporated in these 3 different views. AR foundation was used in these 3D views to make the project more user interactive.
Most of the 3D models (e.g. Parker Solar Probe) we used in the project were imported from Nasa's official website. Besides, we used blender to build some 3D models. The movement of the objects were made by Bézier curve. The rotation of the objects in the projects were done by C# scripts.
We'll also add gaze interaction in our project that will make the interaction process more smooth and interesting.
For a youth, practical life lessons are more fruitful than those attained in virtual life. If one can see the entire movement of Parker Solar Probe and the details associated with it, they could easily learn about the Sun's atmosphere and related details with an almost real life experience.
Space Agency Data
We have used NASA official website (link: https://www.nasa.gov/) to collect our data. We used the press release, feature images, news, solar system exploration of NASA science journal, and Parker Solar Probe journal of NASA. These helped in the creation of a realistic model that would be appealing to young people.
Hackathon Journey
The NASA Space Apps Hackathon journey was a wonderful experience giving lessons on dedication, patience and sacrifices. We have always heard of travelling to the moon, but that something could travel to the Sun was a matter of interest. We visualized the entire journey of Parker Solar Probe to the Sun through Augmented Reality that showed how after so many trajectories, overcoming so many obstacles, finally Probe touched the Sun. We used Unity and NASA open data to incorporate all the major details to cover the maximum part of the project. A complete list of references is provided in the reference section. We are very thankful to our Mentors for constantly guiding us throughout this journey!
Challenges like these helps to think broadly and gain experience on different incidents happening around us.
References
Programming Language: C Sharp (C#)
Software:
- Unity (link: https://unity.com/)
- Blender (link: https://www.blender.org/)
- Microsoft Visual Studio (link: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/)
- Adobe Premiere Pro (https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere.html)
Links:
- https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-ula-launch-parker-solar-probe-on-historic-journey-to-touch-sun
- http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/The-Mission/index.php
- https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/12/spacecraft-enters-suns-corona-for-first-time-in-history/
- https://www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/www_solar/PUS/PO/whystudy.html#:~:text=Reasons%20for%20studying%20the%20Sun,and%20the%20formation%20of%20galaxies.
- https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/fast-solar-wind-causes-aurora-light-shows/
- https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/cutting-edge-heat-shield-installed-on-nasa-s-parker-solar-probe
- https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/2393/earth-3d-model/
- https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/2343/venus-3d-model/
- http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/Spacecraft/index.php#Instruments
Tags
#onthewaytothesun #parkersolarprobe #NASA #NASASpaceAppsChallengeBangladesh