AstroScope

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  dashboard

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  ai tools

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  ai tools

Inspiration

Our fascination with the universe and the wealth of publicly available NASA data inspired us to build AstroScope. We wanted to create a single platform that brings together real-time space data — from satellite tracking to Mars weather — in a way that's engaging, educational, and easy to explore.

What it does

AstroScope is a space data explorer that allows users to:

Track near-Earth asteroids and satellites in real time

View daily Earth imagery from NASA’s EPIC camera

Get Mars weather updates from the InSight lander

Browse Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) with details

Monitor space weather events like solar flares and geomagnetic storms

It combines multiple APIs to deliver a unified, interactive experience for space enthusiasts, students, and researchers.

How we built it

We built AstroScope using:

Firebase Studio for backend, hosting, and authentication

NASA APIs (DONKI, NEO WS, APOD, EPIC, InSight Weather)

TLE API for satellite tracking

JavaScript / React / HTML / CSS for the frontend

Charting libraries for data visualizations

RESTful API integration to fetch and display live data

Challenges we ran into

Managing and normalizing data from different APIs with varied formats and rate limits

Designing a UI that presents complex information without overwhelming users

Handling missing data (e.g., gaps in Mars weather or space weather reports) gracefully

Ensuring performance when visualizing large or dynamic datasets

Accomplishments that we're proud of Successfully integrating diverse space data sources into one cohesive app

Building interactive visualizations that make complex data approachable

Designing an intuitive interface that appeals to both casual users and data geeks

Learning how to work with multiple NASA APIs and overcome API rate limitations

What we learned

Best practices for consuming and caching data from public APIs

How to process and display scientific data in user-friendly formats

Deeper understanding of NASA’s open data ecosystem

The importance of designing with accessibility and simplicity in mind

What's next for AstroScope

Add AR/VR features to visualize asteroid flybys or satellite orbits

Integrate live feeds from telescopes or ISS cameras

Build a notification system for upcoming space events

Release a mobile app version

Add educational modules for schools and outreach programs

Built With

• css3
• d3.js
• firebase
• html5
• javascript
• nasaapi
• react
• restfulapi
• tleapi