High-Level Project Summary
In our project, we will develop a simulation where we will detect the pieces or debris left by humans in space in an orbital position in real time or in an approximate time. As a challenge, we will simulate a globe, rotating slowly in which we will be able to detect that space debris that could become a great threat to humans, so it is important to count how much space debris is found in order to prevent the production of more of this same and impart a mechanism to try to reduce or eliminate a small percentage of this space debris.
Link to Project "Demo"
Link to Final Project
Detailed Project Description
What exactly does it do?
Our project allows us to visualize the orbit of some space debris at the time the query is made and the time after the time the query is made.
Also, in spite of being only a few debris that we show, we can show the different position and orbit of the debris.
How does it work?
The space debris information is requested to the API of the CelesTrak and Space Track pages, which by default is obtained in NORAD Two-Line Element Sets format.
Once the information in TELS format is obtained, it must be transformed with the help of the Satellite JS library into information that can show the longitude, latitude and altitude. With this data we proceed to show the position of the space debris with the help of the NASA World Wind geospatial globe.
Figure N°1. Operation of Space Trash UP21
What benefits does it have?
The developed tool allows to visualize in real time the position of space debris and shows the orbit they maintain around the planet Earth.
What do you hope to achieve?
The implementation of this tool will make it possible to easily locate obstructions in orbit, speeding up and reducing risks in future launches into space as well as the return of spacecraft on space missions.
What tools, coding languages, hardware, or software did you use to develop your project?
- HTML
- CSS
- Bootstrap
- Visual Studio Code
- JavaScript
- Libreria Satellite JS
- NASA WorldWind
- Github
Project Interface
Figure N°2. Space Trash UP21.
Space Agency Data
First we used the data provided by NASA (Github files, visualizations of Earth orbit in 3D format as WorldWind, OpenLayers, Celestrak or Space-Track), in a way that greatly influenced our project, since with these data we tried to predict the orbit with which the Earth would be conformed in terms of satellites that are currently orbiting, but showing us little information of these special debris, with this information we could estimate and catalog some of them in order to make references to certain orbital objects.
Hackathon Journey
How would you describe your Space Apps experience?
The dynamics and the experience of participating for the first time for Space Apps is an incredible experience because it allows us to show our talent and at the same time to learn, investigate and project new proposals for the challenges placed within the Challenge where we take advantage of the best resources of science and technology.
What did you learn?
We can emphasize that there is not only contamination within the planet Earth, but also in its surroundings.
It becomes a risk in the aspects of space explorations since this same debris, which is found in sizes of approximately 1 mm, can be considered a high risk to damage satellites due to the high orbital velocity.
What inspired your team to choose this challenge?
This challenge could have a positive impact on scientific society because it would contribute to solve such a complex problem as the selection of a suitable location for exploration and thus avoid high impact risks that are proportional to large economic losses.
What was your approach to developing this project?
Our application would be a tool capable of locating space debris in real time, allowing us to know characteristics such as latitude, longitude and location.
This is important because it allows us to be aware and know where the space debris will be located at different times.
Hoping to be a project that is cataloged as useful and be able to be seen by others as a first source of information for those who want to know the path of these objects.
How did your team resolve setbacks and challenges?
Being presented in a short period of time we as a team met to investigate and seek a solution to identify or group those space debris through a simulation of a globe.
However, we can indicate that we presented challenges to develop the project where we had to locate with great accuracy in real time those debris, making a data collection of these same that were considered by our team as the most relevant.
We made the operation of this challenge within a repository in Github that will allow us to obtain and visualize an interactive environment, allowing the prediction and detection of the displacement of space debris.
Is there anyone you'd like to thank and why?
We thank professors Iván Armuelles and Ariel Vernaza for helping us clear up doubts that arose during the course of this challenge and for encouraging us to undertake this activity, which is new to most of us.
References
I. (2021, 30 june). Space Debris. Iberdrola. https://www.iberdrola.com/sostenibilidad/basura-espacial
Jarrin, J. A. (2017, 9 may). Space debris, a real problem. Nueva Granda Military University. [PDF file] https://repository.unimilitar.edu.co/handle/10654/15428
Sáez, R. (2021, 22 june). What is space debris and why should we care? La Vanguardia. https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/junior-report/20210621/7544509/basura-espacial-espacio-astronomia.html
Esquivel, M. D. L. M. (2013, 8 july). Space Garbage: A Legal Problem of the Times | Esquivel | Aequitas Virtual. USAL University of El Salvador.
[PDF file]
https://p3.usal.edu.ar/index.php/aequitasvirtual/article/view/1361
Ferrer, T. A. (2021, 12 may). A real problem, space debris. Polytechnic University of Valencia. [PDF file] https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/101742
CelesTrak: Current NORAD Two-Line Element Sets. (s. f.). CelesTrak. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/
WorldWind: Home. (s. f.). WorldWind: Home. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/autodocs/WebWorldWind/
Otto, M. J. T. (s. f.). Bootstrap. Bootstrap. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://getbootstrap.com/
S. (s. f.). GitHub - shashwatak/satellite-js: Modular set of functions for SGP4 and SDP4 propagation of TLEs. GitHub. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://github.com/shashwatak/satellite-js
Tags
#spacedebris #desechosorbitales #NASA #spaceapps #FIEC #PANAMA #UP #Innovation #challenge #2021
Global Judging
This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.