MMW Kowloon Tong

https://youtu.be/CDKQxMhZhpg

https://github.com/xrr-233/GE2340HackathonProject

We want to use animation to show the real-time trajectory of the objects flying around the earth and we finally manage to achieve it. We choose Python as the programming language and call libraries such as SGP4 and skyfield to realize. In the final version of our project, we selected 100 points for rendering in the star map, and the rendering time is 1/3 second.

The following are the steps we took to realize the project.

Step1: Build Flask by Python

We use Python's Flask frame to develop our program, and we read the worldwind.js with npm.

Step2: Understand the Definition of TLE Data

We try to find the explanation about Two-Line Orbital Element for further processing.

Step3: Find the TLE Data

We need to get TLE data to get the real-time position of space objects. It is hard to find an available database at first, but we manage to find the data we need on https://www.space-track.org/#recent .

Step4: Process the TLE Data and Transform it to Latitude and Longitude

We initially used SGP4 to process TLE data, but SGP4 does not have a representation of latitude and longitude, so we switched to using the skyfield library and got the latitude, longitude, and altitude data.

Step5: Mark latitude and longitude

We marked the latitude, longitude, and altitude we got on the worldwind api. But we found the following problems: 1. Due to the large amount of data, there will be problems in rendering animation. 2. The result of data generation has NaN value and needs special processing.

Step6: Reduce the amount of data and animate the result

We use ajax to update the value in real-time to achieve real-time display. The demonstration is shown by the project demo.

Limitations:

When we reviewed the project, we found that when the amount of data was large, the animation rendering speed would become very slow, and we could not solve this problem temporarily. And we are not accurate enough to predict the future trajectory of the object. We will consider using AI to process large amounts of data in the future to achieve fast rendering and accurate prediction.

https://www.space-track.org/#recent

Download file name: 2021 273 (represents all satellite data on the specified Julian date today is the 273rd day of 2021)

We all regard the hackathon journey of Space Apps as a fascinating and meaningful experience. The resources provided during the event gave us the first contact with data related to the universe and galaxies.

We originally chose to participate in this competition because we wanted to understand the application of programming techniques in the space field and to get to know more talented hackers. The game process was more challenging than expected. We spent a long time learning about space coordinate data and finding a complete data source. But we overcome these difficulties and completed our star map eventually.

Using programming knowledge to solve problems in unfamiliar areas improves our ability to analyze problems and apply programming skills. We are also aware of the important role of programming in outer space research and the development of the aerospace industry. Some of us even hope to do research in this field in the future.

TLE format file data interpretation https://www.space-track.org/documentation#/tle

Space-Track TLE download http://www.nlsa.com/kep_elements/space-track.html

Data download address https://www.space-track.org/#recent

Skyfield library https://rhodesmill.org/skyfield/earth-satellites.html

worldwind api https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/web/docs/#anchor

worldwind github https://github.com/WorldWindEarth/worldwindjs/tree/develop/images

#Animation rendering

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