High-Level Project Summary
Although the data about the location of ISS is publicly available, it is not necessarily easily accessible. Some enthusiasts are able to find the Station, but it is not that easy for the beginner or intermediate astronomers. Our task was to provide an easy and intuitive interface for such people. Our program provides real-time data on the current location and position of the ISS, both in 2D and 3D. It also gives some information on the ISS itself and its tracking equipment, for a better understanding of the subject. Using our app everyone interested can instantly get access to this information and probably even more in the future.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
We created Web application to track the ISS location in the real time. You have multiple options on how to track the ISS, you can use 2d tracking to get accurate data and see the orbit of the ISS around the earth and also get the altitude and speed of the space station. In 3d Tracking mode you can see earth globe with ISS flying around it.
Project hosts on Heroku. Heroku runs Flask app with urls defined in it and assets loaded. Each url has its own html, js and css file which are responsible for the layout, functionality and design respectively. 2D visualization relies mainly on outsourced data. 3D modeling works on the three.js library. Other libraries are helping to build an orbit and display ISS at the correct position.
Space Agency Data
- 3D model of the ISS from nasa.gov
- 3D model of Earth from nasa.gov
- Satellite tracking API from open-notify.org, which uses data from NASA
Hackathon Journey
When we learned that NASA had announced a competition, we decided to try our hand at creating such a large project in such a short time. We all like challenges and taking part in competitions. For most of us, it was the first time working on a project for NASA, or even on a timed project at all. We chose the topic that seemed to be the closest and of great interest to us: tracking the ISS. Our team got to start working right away.
The first couple of hours went not as smooth as we wanted: we faced some problems due to a lack of experience working as a team. At first, some of us weren’t even sure what to do. But after an hour or two, our team settled into a steady development cycle: Maxim and Nestor were working on the back end, Kirill was working on the front end, Igor was working with 3D modulation and displacement of ISS as well as deployment, Maximilian was doing the research, and Yaraslau was designing the site. Although on the first day of work we faced a lot of difficulties, in the end, we were able to overcome them and most of us were able to learn new skills, both in website development, coding, and team management.
The second day, on the other hand, was much more productive. The groundwork was laid, but we had plenty of work to do. Each person already had a task assigned to them, so, unlike the first time, our team was properly structured and the process was moving along quite swiftly. Most of the time was spent finishing the code and touching up the website. But even if we made progress, there was still plenty to learn for each member of our team.
In conclusion, during this event our team had plenty of fun, but most importantly, we picked up quite a few useful skills, which will be helpful, if we decide to enter another hackathon or in the future, as communication skills are always useful for a career.
References
Text:
- en.wikipedia.org
- nasa.gov
2D map visualisation:
- isstracker.pl
3D rendering and calculations:
- DeviceOrientationControls.js
- OrbitControls.js
- StereoEffect.js
- three.js
Requests - urllib.request
Outsourced html files mention references in metatag author
Languages used: Python with Flask framework, JavaScript
Hosting and deployment - Heroku
Tags
#3D, #Tracking, #3DTracking, #ISS, #ISStracking