The Celestial Cartographer

Focus: Data Visualization, UI/UX, and Storytelling

Mission Details

This track is for the artists who code and the designers who build. Your mission is to map the unknown, transforming raw data into stunning, insightful, and interactive visualizations. You are the storytellers of the cosmos.

If you're passionate about `three.js`, `D3.js`, web graphics, and building beautiful user interfaces, this is your home. We challenge you to create dashboards, 3D models, and data-art that make the complexity of space understandable and beautiful to everyone.

Potential Project Vectors

  • 3D Solar System Orrery: A `three.js` visualization showing the real-time positions of the planets and the ISS.
  • Mars Rover Path Visualizer: Map the entire journey of a Mars rover (like Perseverance) on an interactive 2D or 3D map, plotting photos and discoveries at each location.
  • SpaceX Launch Timeline: An interactive, scrollable timeline of every SpaceX launch. Filter by rocket, launch site, and mission success.
  • Asteroid Belt Dashboard: A `D3.js` chart showing all known Near-Earth Objects, filterable by size, proximity, and potential threat level.
  • "Mission Control" Dashboard: A comprehensive dashboard that pulls in data from all the APIs: next launch, ISS location, current solar weather, and the APOD.

Example Project: 'Exo-Explorer'

Concept: Interactive 3D Exoplanet Map

An interactive 3D map of the known exoplanet systems within our galactic neighborhood. Users can fly through space, explore systems, and learn about the planets we've discovered.

Core Features:

  • Use `three.js` to render stars and procedurally generated planets based on data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
  • Ability to click on any star system or planet to pull up a card with its real data (mass, orbital period, discovery date, distance from Earth).
  • Filter systems by "Habitable Zone Candidates" to see which systems might support life.
  • A "Warp To" animation when a new system is selected from a list.

Data Feeds:

NASA Exoplanet Archive (for all planet and star data).

Register for Mission