Manji

Aaruush, Chennai | Mapping Space Trash in Real Time

Mapping Debris in real-time

High-Level Project Summary

I developed an application that can map all of the debris on the planet, identify the user's location, and show the user the nearest debris, mark it on the globe, and give them the exact location of that debris. This application solves the problem by utilizing real-time data from the space agency as well as NASA resources. This application also provides users with the location of the nearest debris in terms of latitude and longitude, making it easier for them to understand. It was vital to tackle these problems because most people are unaware of debris and have no clue how much of it is revolving about our planet.

Link to Project "Demo"

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YbjWkZ3xlmxU4ib26kN2_yK7gdqYO-7h/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105756966470289465094&rtpof=true&sd=true

Link to Final Project

https://github.com/sudhanshupatel-dev/Debris-Tracking

Detailed Project Description

Overview -

My application uses a virtual globe to display all of the debris across the world, as well as showing the user the closest debris and its position in terms of latitude and longitude.


Working -




  1. First and foremost, the program renders a virtual globe, in this case, NASA WorldWind, which I found to be of interest. I want to utilize this virtual globe to map out the locations of all of the debris, as well as the position of the user.
  2. During the course of the rendering process, the application will request access to the user's location through the browser. Once the user agrees to the location access request, the application will save the user's current location information, such as latitude and longitude, in some variables for later use.
  3. When the user click the debris toggle, the json files with the position of the debris will be loaded and plotted on the globe. This json file was updated while node.js server was initialized.
  4. When a user clicks on the "Nearest Debris" button, the values of the user's location and the debris are used to calculate the distance between the user's position and the debris. The latitude and longitude with the shortest distance will be the debris that is closest to the user. The position of the closest debris is indicated on the globe after it has been determined.


Benefits -

In accordance with my slogan, 'Simplify,' it was vital in this case to simplify the quantity of information so that the user could comprehend it better by seeing the information rather than reading it in the form of numbers and have a better feel for it.


Goals -

I hope if I keep working on this project I will be able to add features such as forecasting the time when debris will pass by a user's position and the chance that debris will reach the surface and alert the user. Because of the rising amount of space trash, it is highly probable that they will hit and shatter into smaller pieces, making it even more critical to follow their motion. In the future, I hope to develop a machine learning model that can forecast the path of the debris.


Tools and Coding Language used -

I've used Node.js for the backend development and Vue.js for the frontend development. I've also used Python to update the raw TLE data and Javascript to convert TLE to latitude and longitude. Also I have used NASA WorldWind for the purpose of virtual globe.


Software-

I have just used simple text editor like Sublime text editor.

Space Agency Data

  • The raw TLE data from the Celestrak website was used in this project. This assisted me in getting started by giving the fundamental information, which I then converted to latitudes and longitudes to plot on the virtual globe.
  • In addition, I used NASA WorldWind, which is a virtual globe, as a starting point and I built everything else on top of it.

Hackathon Journey

My experience at this hackathon was fantastic, and I gained a great deal of knowledge about space while working on this project. As a member of a one-person team, I decided to work on this project on my own because it is something I believe I can contribute to. After reading the challenge name and learning about debris, the first thing that came to mind was to develop a model that can track the movement of the debris and predict its risk of falling. As of right now, the frontend portion of the project has been completed, and I will continue to work on it till the prediction model is integrated into it.

At the end of the day, I would like to thank all of the people who share their difficulties and people who provide solutions on websites such as stackoverflow and quora.

Finally, I would want to express my gratitude to your organization for hosting such a hackathon; it provided me with an excellent opportunity to learn new things.

References

  • Debris data from Celestrak
  • NASA WorldWind
  • Heroku
  • Github

Tags

#Debris, #Tracking, #Mapping

Global Judging

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

Mapping Space Trash in Real Time

The increasing amount of debris orbiting Earth could potentially limit our access to space, impacting not only exploration efforts, but routine aspects of our life on Earth. Your challenge is to develop an open-source geospatial application that displays and locates every known debris object orbiting Earth in real time.