JAIA

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FJKtruoQFvnsq2Xm1MBUKIflSmswu3jEo0g6H18i7JU/edit?usp=sharing

https://github.com/islova/space-apps-2021

The application’s main purpose is to be able to track different quantities of space debris and manage their coordinates during real time. Having this data organized allows us to calculate their speed and direction, which is then used to estimate trajectories of objects moving too close to each other inside a radius, in a specific moment. This is key to indicate if there is a risk of satellites or debris having a collision.

To execute the earlier, the main programming language used was Python, in charge of generating .txt files with the information corresponding to the position of the debris (longitude and latitude in degrees; elevation in km), recovered from CelesTrak, a database with TLE parameters. The arguments provided by the database were transferred using the Skyfield API, which obtains the coordinates and elevation corresponding to the satellite at a given time.

All this was computed in Flask, as a framework for the web application where all the information and data is visualized. The web page allows its users to interact with three windows and various features: 

• Coordinates allows the user to introduce a number of objects to be displayed on screen. A table then arranges the debris or satellites indicating their coordinates, and the time the chart was generated.
• Distance shows a series of pairs of bodies which were found to be separated by a radius of 200km or less. This is to provide users a sense of how many collisions could be occurring at the present time. Note: the app currently compares distances only between 151 objects to avoid the user waiting for too long to see results; this range should be increased when the program is optimized.
• Collisions displays pairs of debris and/or satellites which approach in a distance of around 0.15km for the next hour, a distance considered to be of risk (based on the size of the biggest satellite, the ISS). Includes the time remaining until said collision occurs. Note: the app evaluates the different positions of the objects found in the next hour since its file generation takes long, this lapse of time should also be increased when the program is optimized.

(Except for the Collisions section, all information displayed on the web application can be updated when said page is manually refreshed by the user. To refresh Collisions, generate a new text file as indicated in the web page)

This information is to be applied in further updates to determine the force of collisions between satellites or debris in space, and then to arrange them in terms of impact. This way, the program could aid specialized organizations by establishing a priority on the debris that possess the most destructive potential.

Tools 

CelesTrak

Python

Skyfield

Flask

• CelesTrak [NORAD Two-Line Element Sets]

Where we obtained the data about coordinates, orbital trajectory, and other essential information about active satellites and debris.

• Skyfield API, Python [load, wgs84, EarthSatellite]

Encodes a list of orbital elements of an Earth-orbiting object for a given point in time. 

Throughout the development of the Space Tracking app, research was essentially directed to learning about past incidents caused by the saturation of artifacts in Earth’s orbit. Only earlier this year, the International Space Station was hit by a small fragment of space junk that ruptured a robotic arm; in more severe cases, take the collisions that occurred during 2007 (Chinese anti-satellite missile test) and 2009 (Iridium 33 - Kosmos-2251) (the application currently maps debris from the cluster formed by this collision), which both shot up the number of debris in orbit. (Howell, 2021)

In spite of these accidents and the clear necessity of new regulations, not many organizations are specialized in this problem, and neither has the media shown profound interest towards it. This kind of incident remains a growing concern for astronauts, but the issue with supersaturated skies is not limited to missions only. In the past years, the high numbers of satellites in Low-Earth orbit have aroused conflicts with other sectors such as for the astronomers, mainly because the brightness and large quantities of satellites have disrupted telescopic observations. (Zhang, 2020)

Most satellites then become obsolete after reaching their life expectancy, and are left along with other types of space debris to float around at very high speeds. Not only does this activity enlarge the possibilities of collisions happening, but the aftermath of crashes is also a main factor in the formation of more space junk around the Earth. Thus, our team considers of great importance the study of this issue, and is designing an application able to provide basic data about specific space debris.

The writing of the Space Tracking app is presently focused on the display of objects in the Low-Earth orbit in a table indicating their real time positions. Since coding is involved in the development of the solution, the debugging process represents a setback timewise, as does the time given to understand the different sources and programs.

All things considered, with its features in early development, the Space Tracking app is created to contribute to the solving of trash spreading in space. To promote sustainability in the aerospace industry, the functions of the application are directed to raise awareness about the matter within the general public and companies that are involved in the launch of rockets or satellites. Since the reduction of orbiting trash now depends on advanced technology to retrieve old devices from space and increasing satellite life expectancy, our team hopes to define some sense of responsibility towards the space environment on the users of the application.

• Howell, E. (2021). Space station robotic arm hit by orbital debris in 'lucky strike'. Space.com. Retrieved from: https://www.space.com/space-station-robot-arm-orbital-debris-strike
• Kelso, T.S. (2021). NORAD Two-Line Element Sets Current Data. CelesTrak. Retrieved from: http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/debris.txt
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2020). Space Debris. NASA's Open Data Portal. Retrieved from: https://data.nasa.gov/browse?q=space%20debris&sortBy=relevance
• Pallets. (2010). Flask web development, one drop at a time. Flask. Retrieved from: https://flask.palletsprojects.com/en/2.0.x/
• Rhodes, B. (2021). EarthSatellite. Skyfield. Retrieved from: https://rhodesmill.org/skyfield/
• Zhang, E. (2020). SpaceX’s Dark Satellites Are Still Too Bright for Astronomers. Scientific American. Retrieved from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spacexs-dark-satellites-are-still-too-bright-for-astronomers/

#realtime, #space, #trash, #collision, #tracking, #app, #Skyfield, #Python, #html, #Flask, #CelesTrak

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.