Orbit
In October 2020, I participated in NASA International Space Apps Challenge on a small team with one other person to create a web app to visualize HEASARC (High-Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center - try saying that 5 times fast) data. Users can select a mission and view a relevant dataset through either a 3D visualization of what the mission studies or a table with data from the mission. Common data types for missions are visible on the interface during both visualization and table mode. We built this web app in Three.js, and it was a great learning experience since I hadn’t ever used Three.js before. Though the project itself didn’t end up working well (hackathons, am I right?), it was fun and I enjoyed being able display a 3D black hole spinning in the browser!
The idea of Orbit was to create a tool that anyone could use, from someone who doesn’t know much about astrophysics to a Subject Matter Expert (SME). Our goal was to create two modes for this web app, which users could switch between at the tap of a button. The SME mode, or Tabular mode, was meant to have more data that they would understand and gain more from. The layperson mode, or Visual mode, was more visual and meant to show visuals of what the selected phenomenon may look like, as well as some data.
These are just a few examples of the quick iterations we went through that weekend!