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Pasadena, CA | Discovering Science Connections

Informagalactic

High-Level Project Summary

We developed an interactive and intuitive information website on the Solar system. In it, we describe each planet and other celestial bodies in a highly informational yet easy to understand way so that each person can leave the website knowing more than they came with. Our goal was to inform the audience (anyone) about the history, present and future of our solar system so that they can understand how the nearby planets in space came to be. This is an important project to not only us, but also anyone who is looking to learn more about space because instead of just listing facts like other websites, it can give the user a fun and memorable experience which they are likely to learn more from.

Link to Project "Demo"

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12gF6HdO7GJr6j-03rNcy4XW8BUPyGNRN/view?usp=sharing

Link to Final Project

www.informagalactic.com

Detailed Project Description

Our project is an interactive and animated learning experience which allows users to discover the solar system. The site contains an interactive User Interface in which a trackpad/mouse can be used to navigate through different faces of the planets. Users can interact with the table on the right and be redirected to a planet of their choice to learn about. Once on the planet site they desire, users are invited to a bird’s eye view of the planet which can be moved with the click and moving of a mouse, as well as an informational segment regarding the respective planet.

We have created the site as an interactive experience for users to learn more about the solar system and make scientific observations/connections. We hope to inform users and educate them about significant events, facts, and other aspects of the solar system while also allowing them to create their own connections to the content provided.

Our idea is built on AWS infrastructure, using Javascript, HTML, and Blender models. We were able to create an interactive mockup of our solar system with these tools and integrated them all together to create an interactive user experience. Data from NASA was pivotal to our information collection regarding details of planetary bodies and the science that surrounds them.

Space Agency Data

In the process of building our website, we had to search for information from many websites, however we found the data of space agencies to be the most reliable. Some of the space agencies whose data we used are: NASA and the CSA. We were able to research about the major events that happened in the planet’s history, the composition of its atmosphere and if there was or is any potential of life. This kind of motivated us to put it into a “timeline” sort of format because we were presented with large amounts of data collected on the planets’ past, present, and future, so on our website the user can see the history of the planets as well as look into its present day appearance.

Hackathon Journey

As we progressed along our Space Apps journey, the team-building and technical skills we developed were like no other. It was such a unique process of building, testing, and developing different components of a solution towards discovering more about the Solar System itself. We were inspired to choose the topic of Discovering Scientific Connections as we wanted to exercise our interest in planetary elements and space in general. Our approach to the project was not to divide up work and act as separate units. Instead, we took the approach of collaborating through applications and various other resources. Because our team comes from a variety of backgrounds and age ranges, our exposure to outer space is varied. Completing this project was a means of discovery for us as a group and we had the opportunity to apply our skills in learning more about the world we live in. As a team, we were able to resolve challenges and setbacks by communication and collaboration. More specifically, we utilized applications like Discord and Zoom to connect virtually and resolve conflicts through verbal communication. When something technical or buggy came up, we diagnosed the problem as a group and weighed out our options for solutions in a group setting as opposed to an individual basis, which does not fairly assess the group’s performance.