Mission to Planet Earth: A Digital History
Cosmopher
Summary
Cosmopher is an application that aims to inform and inspire the common man with readily-accessible knowledge illustrated in a highly visually appealing manner. We want to instill and foster curiosity within the general public by utilising NASA’s extensive databases and visualising this in a way such that every single one of us can truly understand the wonders of the universe. From explaining historical missions to debunking space myths, we at Cosmopher want you to get the most out of the information available to us; all whilst spotlighting prominent global issues at the same time. In short, we’re easy, accessible, and informative.
How We Addressed This Challenge
The challenge presented before us was to tell stories of NASA’s Earth science enterprise using interactive digital tools. Our application addresses this challenge by informing the general public of NASA’s mission history - opening up the eyes to NASA’s backstories and missions. Our aim was to create an app that followed the theme of inform and inspire while focusing on the history of space exploration. Our application contains many sections such as a discover page (for the users to discover different space missions), a “today in space” section (which shows the significance of the day in terms of discoveries years ago in an anniversary style. It also brings significance to each day which can be really inspiring and motivating), a “daily metrics page” which shows general information about the earth as daily updates, and a “home” section (which talks about issues related to Earth, their significance, and how we can all help). These pages and sections were tailored while keeping both the challenge and user in mind.
Regarding the aim of our project, we think that it is crucial to display NASA’s information in this manner because on the website, the terminology used can be quite advanced and it can be harder to navigate through. We decided to create a mobile application because we had seen statistics in which we found out that the number of people using mobile phones are increasing. Because of this we chose a medium where we could reach the largest audience. The number of youths using mobile phones are also increasing so we tried to look at it in a positive light by using the theme of inspiration. We hope to be able to inspire youth about space exploration since it can spark interest and ideas in the younger generation and it is a much more productive use of technology.
How We Developed This Project
To create our functional prototype of your application, we used a website called “FIGMA”. This website helped us create the best prototype possible with our limited knowledge of programing. Aiswarya had used this application before which made it easier to get started. Riya had previous knowledge on programming. This application made it easy to collaborate while keeping both of our skill levels in mind. By using an effective balance of colours, text, and images we were able to achieve our goal/aim without overwhelming the users. If we had made it monotones and didn't include images, the engagement of the users would have significantly decreased. This application allowed us to achieve this balance.
How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project
Since the aim for our application was to display NASA’s data for the common man, we tried to incorporate as much data as we could whilst sticking to the main challenge of space history. We mainly incorporated data from NASA’s mission overview page where we were able to educate ourselves about the different space missions held by NASA. We transformed this information into more simple language and then presented our research on the application pages. We had also used some more common data from NASA’s data site regarding surface sea temperatures to give an idea of what the “Daily Metrics” page of the application would look like. We also wanted to inform the users on current issues that planet Earth is facing. We had to incorporate statistics from both NASA’s website as well as their partner agencies. We included an overview of the issue, how NASA (and partnering agencies) are helping, as well as how the users themselves can help this issue (on a smaller and individual scale).
Project Demo
Data & Resources
ADEOS-II Information:
https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/ADEOS-II?sections=about%2Bdata%2Bnews%2Bresources
General Overlook of NASA's Missions:
https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/missions
Surface Sea Temperature for Daily Metrics:
https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/REYNOLDS_NCDC_L4_SST_HIST_RECON_MONTHLY_V3B_NETCDF?ids=Measurement&values=OCEAN%20TEMPERATURE
CYGNSS Mission Information:
https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/CYGNSS?sections=about
TEMPO Mission Information:
https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/t/tempo#:~:text=TEMPO%20is%20a%20spaceborne%20instrument,(Earth%20Venture%20Instrument)%20solicitation.&text=The%20goal%20of%20the%20TEMPO,American%20continent%20hourly%20during%20daytime.
NASA fun fact loading screen:
https://factrepublic.com/50-interesting-facts-nasa/