Space Apps Challenge 2018

The group chose the Space Launch problem as we believed that we had an interesting solution that would allow users to visualise the launches in a unique way. We believe that we not only cover the problems brought up by the project specification, but more importantly we give users an engaging way to interact with space launches worldwide. Our solution provides a variety of information about the launch, teaching people more about the rockets, companies and missions that go on all the time. It also gives a good view of timelines as it can inform users of a rockets launch status to find out about delays, failures and successes.

One of our major goals was the "cross platform experience", and we decided to host our project online so that it can be easily accessed any time on any device. This meant that throughout the project we had to thoroughly test on a range of devices and made many changes, such as making sure to include touch screen support for tablets and phones, tweaking performance for lower power machines, and including special rules for VR support. We believe this makes the app very accessible and it can even be used as as a utility for spectating a launch.

If people are able to see launches nearby and learn details about them in a very easy and informative way it will help them to better understand the huge amount activity that happens in the sky every day. We hope that the more fun and interactive approach we made will increase their interest in space sciences, potentially leading them into STEM in the future.

This solution could also be used in education to teach students about space and make them want to explore more about the topic in their spare time.

Resources: PlayCanvas, VisualStudio, C# MVC Framework

Source code: https://github.com/hullcss/NASA-Challenge/