The Operators

Thessaloniki | Track the Space Station in 3D

Track the Space Station in 3D

High-Level Project Summary

The project's goal is to create a web application which will track the ISS in real time. In order to achieve this our team used some given libraries such as WorldWind, Satelite.js,, as well as created some functionalities to enrich the application. The choice of this challenge was made based on our desire to support the space community, but also to raise interest in space among the general public. Through it, the user will be able to more correctly predict the satellite's trajectory and be better organized. Furthermore, by writing documentation and also writing open software code, we hope to support the space community and increase interest in the general public.

Link to Final Project

https://gitlab.com/the-operators/track-the-iss-in-3d

Link to Project "Demo"

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1o2dP8nDqXjT2hVbDgkgVEhfoDMgEcbyIXlUkhwWcUqo/edit#slide=id.g15c805a2b48_2_77

Detailed Project Description

 The human’s constant longing for the acquisition of newer knowledge and its use in his daily life is the succorer to his success in the more extensive understanding of the world around him, and set the foundations for his evolvement. Specifically, in the field of space, the scientific community has achieved in a short period of time, goals that seemed impossible, such as the mission of man in space, and the use of satellites for our daily communication, navigation, etc. 

Wanting to add our stepping stone to this Herculean effort, we ended up creating a program to track the orbit of the International Space Station through a website. In order to achieve this, we used some given libraries such as WorldWind and Satelite.js, as well as created some functionalities to enrich the application e.g the ability to check if you can see the ISS station and the real day/night implementation 

The reason for creating such an application is the more accurate estimate of the time margin that will be given to the ground station team for sending commands and receiving data between them and the satellite. Thus, the team will have the ability to better organize the operating plan within this period and more likely to fulfill the team's goals. In addition, the continuous monitoring of the satellite combined with the knowledge of weather and non-weather phenomena in the earth's atmosphere, will be an irreplaceable tool, in better understanding and dealing with any problems. 

Additionally, the main mission of our team is to create an open source program that would become a cornerstone for other teams, in the effort to create similar applications. However, it is important not to omit the writing of extensive documentation, which is also the goal of our team in order to preserve and pass on the knowledge gained during the creation of the program, to the Greek and global community. 

Finally, wanting to approach professionals in the industry, and society as a whole, we aim to create a user-friendly application that will arouse its interest in space and concurently construct and active plaform for inter-company cooperation and investement in the space field.

To summarize, the choice of the international space station tracking application was made based on our desire to support the space community, but also to raise interest in space among the general public. In order to achieve our goal, we used some given libraries, as well as created some functionalities to enrich the application and make it more creative. Through it, the user will be able to more correctly predict the satellite's trajectory and be better organized both in terms of its schedule and in terms of easier handling of any problems. Furthermore, by writing documentation and also writing open software code, we hope to become an important pillar for the development of the Greek and international space community. Finally, with the ability of its distribution and utilization by the general public, we aim to create a channel of communication between professionals and individuals interested in the space sector. Thus we believe that our program will have a lasting impact on society.  




Space Agency Data

Hackathon Journey

All of our team’s members are actively contributing to AcubeSAT, which is the main project of the student team SpaceDot. SpaceDot is designing and developing a nanosatellite which will be launched in about two years from now. The AcubeSAT nanosatellite will be carry a biological experience, taking place during orbit.

 Both our previous interest in space and our urge to expand our knowledge triggered us into participating in the Nasa Space App Challenge. Since it was our first time taking part in a Hackathon-like event we tried to make the most out of this initiative, test our performance and capabilities into a time-restrictive environment and explore our cooperation as a team. At the end of this journey we feel excited to have met people sharing a common interest and passion in space exploration and research. This two-day hackathon journey gave us the chance to study new open source tools expanding our knowledge with a full hands-on-experiece.


The impact of our project is that it can be used as an educational tool and interactive presentation in various events, hackathons and exhibitions, contributing to the creation of a friendlier environment for public space interest and inspiration. The already-existing will of passionate people to work on the industry will be expanded and inter-company and international cooperation regarding investments in this field will be promoted, showcasing the value of Space related research. It is very important to mention that our project is open source project being accessible to anyone interested to try it or expand it.

Furthermore, since SpaceDot’s main goal is space exploration and research, the “Track the satellite” challenge seemed like a perfect match for our team. By participating in this challenge, we hope to Track our satellite during orbit, the best time window to communicate with our satellite and detect possible flaws in our satellite’s orbit.


After concluding at the “Track the satellite in 3D” challenge our next step was to read the available documentation and references to finally decide on our approach. We found the suitable libraries for our project, pitched ideas for the desirable functionalities and started testing features. After, making sure that our ideas have been included in a functionality level, we focused on beautifying the project for a better user experience. Alongside the development, a complete presentation explaining and visualizing our project was created. 

Inevitable setbacks regarding coding performance and connection issues appeared. We manage to overcome the first ones with continuous testing

References

Track the Space Station in 3D

Applications that track the International Space Station are easy to find online, but their features and capabilities vary. Your challenge is to build and publish an open-source web application that tracks the space station in three dimensions.