Space Apps Challenge 2017

Space Jockey | Sheado

Try out the app yourself: Download the Win-64 Executable

Minimum specs:

• 64-bit Windows 8 or 10.
• Quad Core 2GHz CPU.
• 8GB RAM.
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M or better.

JUDGES - Please READ

I started working on this project last week when the project descriptions were announced. I understand that any work I did before the weekend may be disqualified. Please see Progress Update #1 and its description for details on the state of the project on 4/28/2017.

Features

• Rendering Earth and Sun in 3D with their placement according to the SGP4 model.
• Satellites orbit the Earth based on the two-line element data as modeled by SGP4.
• Users can cycle through 12 different satellites (including the ISS) for a ride along.
• Free flight option is available to allow the user to fly anywhere in the scene.
• Night lights accurately render only on the shaded side of the planet.
• UI displays current time, selected satellite name, and instructions.

Challenges

I am new to space science and had to acquaint myself with all the terminology and concepts. The open source SGP4 model was very helpful in helping me move more quickly (see links below in the Resources section).

Some known issues include:

• Gimbal locking issue with the satellites and camera as they pass over the poles of the planet.
• Several of the Earth observing satellites do not have open source 3D models, so they were not included in the simulation.

The Future

SpaceJockey can be fun, educational, and useful.

Fun

Flying around and riding on satellites is cool, but it would really cool to be able to:

• Navigate a ship.
• Feel the effects of debris on a ship.
• Dock with the ISS.
• Observe animated astronauts doing work on satellites and the ISS.

Educational

Simply using SpaceJockey can give an person a better idea of how fast and high satellite orbits are. A complete implementation should include:

• All Earth orbiting satellites.
• Controls to adjust time and time delta speed.
• Accurate launch simulations for each satellite.

Useful

This app can also be useful to professionals who need to keep an eye on the latest data inbound from Earth observing satellites. In the interest of time I did not complete any of the co-location features. Future versions should include:

• Visualizations of data acquired by each satellite.
• Co-location notifications and simultaneous rendering of co-located data.
• Statistical info on rendered data.

Resources

• Earth textures via visibleearth.nasa.gov
• Earth satellite TLEs via celestrak.com
• SGP4 library via danrw.com
• Unreal Engine 4