4 ms·

We did something similar at the Space Apps NYC hackathon this April where we tried to simulate the effects of cascading space debris collisions known as the "Ke

We did something similar at the Space Apps NYC hackathon this April where we tried to simulate the effects of cascading space debris collisions known as the "Kessler syndrome". We ran out of time so it doesn't actually cascade but it shows the rather high likelihood of collisions if you fast-forward with the slider on the bottom left of the screen. Pull requests would be very welcome, the data from space-track.org generally is great fun to play around with (as is three.js and satellite.js). http://spaceappsnyc.com/KesslerSyndrome http://spaceappsnyc.com/KesslerSyndrome https://github.com/spaceappsnyc/KesslerSyndrome https://github.com/spaceappsnyc/KesslerSyndrome

kartikkumar 11y ago
That's really neat! Is the code available anywhere? Are you propagating the TLEs with the SGP4/SDP4 propagator? Gonna tweet this now to share within the EU project I'm in, focussed on asteroids and space debris, so there could definitely be some pull requests around the corner!
- musha68k 11y ago
  Awesome :) I've added the github repo to my comment! And yes, we were using satellite.js [1] which provided us with the propagation functionality together with a static set of TLEs from space-track [2] - I'll add an github issue for adding support for dynamic aggregation of that data right away actually :) [1] https://github.com/shashwatak/satellite-js https://github.com/shashwatak/satellite-js [2] https://www.space-track.org https://www.space-track.org
efuquen 11y ago
Wow, your project and this hackathon looks super cool, wish I had known about it earlier to attend. Will definitely follow the Meetup for future events, thanks for sharing!
- musha68k 11y ago
  It was the most fun I've had in a long time, I would definitely encourage you to participate as it is a global hackathon [1] and anyone can join from anywhere actually :) That said I'd still prefer to be on-location as there was such a wide range of people with different backgrounds who were all super inspiring and a joy to work with! There actually weren't enough programmers so I got to hook up a lidar to an Intel Edison for another team which ended up winning the Intel price - the team leader even gave me one of those Edisons and invited me to visit Google NYC. Yupp, I'm a lucky bastard :) and I didn't even mention that Lord British gave a talk too [2] (he bowed when I thanked his honour for being an inspiration since my childhood). If you are only slightly interested do participate in the next Space Apps Challenge! [1] https://2015.spaceappschallenge.org https://2015.spaceappschallenge.org [2] https://twitter.com/musha68k/status/587000418095464448 https://twitter.com/musha68k/status/587000418095464448
ngoldbaum 11y ago
Have you gotten a chance to read Seveneves yet?
- musha68k 11y ago
  Not yet actually, thanks for the recommendation - loved Snow Crash!
  - Hortinstein 11y ago
    literally came here to say the same thing, it is all about Kessler Syndrome (though I dont remember if they called it that in the book). Fascinating site and good work!
tomswartz07 11y ago
For those interested in reading more about space debris collisions, the 'technical term' for this issue is called an Ablation Cascade.
Manakias 11y ago
o/ Nikola here. If anyone is interested in the engineering of the space junk removal device, you can contact me at vianikola@yahoo.com , or on Twitter (which I haven't checked in a long time >.<") @Manakias2

kartikkumar 11y ago

That's really neat! Is the code available anywhere? Are you propagating the TLEs with the SGP4/SDP4 propagator? Gonna tweet this now to share within the EU project I'm in, focussed on asteroids and space debris, so there could definitely be some pull requests around the corner!

musha68k 11y ago
Awesome :) I've added the github repo to my comment! And yes, we were using satellite.js [1] which provided us with the propagation functionality together with a static set of TLEs from space-track [2] - I'll add an github issue for adding support for dynamic aggregation of that data right away actually :) [1] https://github.com/shashwatak/satellite-js https://github.com/shashwatak/satellite-js [2] https://www.space-track.org https://www.space-track.org

efuquen 11y ago

Wow, your project and this hackathon looks super cool, wish I had known about it earlier to attend. Will definitely follow the Meetup for future events, thanks for sharing!

musha68k 11y ago
It was the most fun I've had in a long time, I would definitely encourage you to participate as it is a global hackathon [1] and anyone can join from anywhere actually :) That said I'd still prefer to be on-location as there was such a wide range of people with different backgrounds who were all super inspiring and a joy to work with! There actually weren't enough programmers so I got to hook up a lidar to an Intel Edison for another team which ended up winning the Intel price - the team leader even gave me one of those Edisons and invited me to visit Google NYC. Yupp, I'm a lucky bastard :) and I didn't even mention that Lord British gave a talk too [2] (he bowed when I thanked his honour for being an inspiration since my childhood). If you are only slightly interested do participate in the next Space Apps Challenge! [1] https://2015.spaceappschallenge.org https://2015.spaceappschallenge.org [2] https://twitter.com/musha68k/status/587000418095464448 https://twitter.com/musha68k/status/587000418095464448

ngoldbaum 11y ago

Have you gotten a chance to read Seveneves yet?

musha68k 11y ago
Not yet actually, thanks for the recommendation - loved Snow Crash!
- Hortinstein 11y ago
  literally came here to say the same thing, it is all about Kessler Syndrome (though I dont remember if they called it that in the book). Fascinating site and good work!

tomswartz07 11y ago

For those interested in reading more about space debris collisions, the 'technical term' for this issue is called an Ablation Cascade.

Manakias 11y ago

o/ Nikola here. If anyone is interested in the engineering of the space junk removal device, you can contact me at vianikola@yahoo.com , or on Twitter (which I haven't checked in a long time >.<") @Manakias2