🛰️ ORBITAL — Space Telemetry & Central Command Dashboard

ORBITAL is a next-generation, browser-based 3D aerospace telemetry workstation. Built with Three.js, WebGL post-processing shaders, and live scientific pipelines, ORBITAL bridges real-time astrophysics telemetry with an interactive cyberpunk HUD command interface.

---

🌌 System Architecture & Data Flow

ORBITAL aggregates raw observational datasets from NASA, JPL, and CelesTrak, routes them through a resilient multi-layer proxy fallback pipeline, and visualizes orbits and hazards directly inside a 60-FPS 3D environment.

flowchart TB
    subgraph DataSources["🔭 Scientific Data Sources"]
        NASA["NASA Open API<br/>(APOD, DONKI, NeoWs)"]
        JPL["JPL SSD / Sentry<br/>(CAD, Impact Hazards)"]
        CELES["CelesTrak GP<br/>(Real-Time Satellite Catalog)"]
        OSDR["NASA OSDR<br/>(Space Biology Experiments)"]
    end

    subgraph ProxyPipeline["🛡️ Resilient Network & Proxy Mesh"]
        DIRECT["Direct Fetch & Cache"]
        PROXY1["AllOrigins Proxy"]
        PROXY2["CORSProxy IO"]
        PROXY3["CodeTabs Proxy"]
        DIRECT -->|Rate Limit / CORS Fail| PROXY1
        PROXY1 -->|Timeout| PROXY2
        PROXY2 -->|Failover| PROXY3
    end

    subgraph CoreEngine["⚙️ ORBITAL Core Engine (Vanilla JS)"]
        THREE["Three.js WebGL Engine<br/>• GLTF Loader (Earth & Moon)<br/>• UnrealBloomPass Post-Processing<br/>• Instanced Asteroid Belt Mesh"]
        AUDIO["Web Audio API Synthesizer<br/>• Spatial SFX & HUD UI Pings"]
        AI["Tactical AI Node<br/>• TinyLlama Local Server<br/>• Free Cloud Fallback API"]
    end

    subgraph HUD["🖥️ Cyberpunk Command Display"]
        VIEW["Interactive 3D Viewport"]
        SATELLITE["Satellite Tracking Radar"]
        SENTRY["JPL Sentry Threat Board"]
        WEATHER["DONKI Solar Weather Matrix"]
        RESEARCH["OSDR Biology Archive"]
        ZEN["Zen / Dream Particle Canvas"]
    end

    DataSources --> ProxyPipeline
    ProxyPipeline --> CoreEngine
    CoreEngine --> HUD

Loading

---

⚡ Key Features

1. High-Fidelity 3D Astrophysics Engine

• Planetary Realism: Procedurally lit 3D models of Earth and Moon loaded via GLTFLoader.
• Atmospheric Glow & Bloom: Powered by Three.js EffectComposer with custom UnrealBloomPass thresholds for cinematic neon radiation.
• Instanced Debris Field: Thousands of individual asteroid rocks rendering at a steady 60 FPS using GPU instancing.
• Dynamic Starfield & Procedural Nebula: Canvas-generated radial gradient textures producing infinite cosmic depth without heavy asset overhead.

2. Live Aerospace Telemetry Streams

sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    participant UI as ORBITAL Dashboard
    participant Service as Telemetry Service Mesh
    participant Proxy as Fallback Proxy Layer
    participant API as NASA / JPL / CelesTrak

    UI->>Service: Request Telemetry (CAD, Sentry, Satellites)
    Service->>API: Fetch Endpoint (Direct)
    alt Direct Success
        API-->>Service: Return 200 OK + JSON
    else CORS / Rate Limited
        Service->>Proxy: Route through Fallback Proxy Mesh
        Proxy->>API: Execute Request
        API-->>Proxy: Payload
        Proxy-->>Service: Parsed Response
    end
    Service->>UI: Hydrate HUD Cards & 3D Celestial Coordinates

Loading

• JPL Close Approach Data (CAD): Tracks asteroids and comets approaching within lunar distances.
• JPL Sentry Impact Risk System: Displays potential virtual impactors with calculated Palermo and Torino scale risk indices.
• DONKI Space Weather: Real-time monitoring of Solar Flares, Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and Geomagnetic Storms.
• CelesTrak Active Satellite Radar: Search and monitor thousands of operational satellites (Starlink, GPS, Weather, Scientific payloads) with orbital elements.
• NASA OSDR Biological Research: Query open-science aerospace biology datasets directly in an expandable data drawer.

3. Integrated Tactical Space AI

• Dual-Engine Architecture:
  • Local Node Mode: Directly connects to a local embedded AI node (e.g. Raspberry Pi running llama-server on port 8080).
  • Cloud Fallback Mode: Instantly switches to cloud AI completions when running standalone or mobile.
• Space-Trained Persona: Specialized prompt tuning focusing strictly on astrophysics, orbital calculations, and space mission logs.

4. Zen & Dream Relaxation Modes

• Toggle between high-intensity Tactical Surveillance Mode and relaxing Zen Mode (Z key).
• Features floating cosmic stardust, dynamic spline constellations, and calming philosophical quotes to eliminate cognitive fatigue.

---

📂 Repository Structure

ORBITAL/
├── index.html                   # Central Command HUD interface & DOM layout
├── main.js                      # Three.js 3D engine, camera animations & AI logic
├── style.css                    # Cyberpunk aesthetic, scanlines & responsive styles
├── package.json                 # Project configuration and scripts
├── EARTH.glb                    # High-resolution Earth mesh
├── MOON.glb                     # Realistic Moon mesh
├── osdr.json                    # Cached NASA OSDR biological datasets
├── services/
│   ├── asteroidApi.js           # JPL CAD, NeoWs & Fireball API handler
│   ├── donkiApi.js              # NASA Space Weather (CME, Flares, Storms)
│   ├── nasaApi.js               # APOD & Mars environmental telemetry
│   ├── researchApi.js           # NASA OSDR search & modal loader
│   └── satelliteApi.js          # CelesTrak satellite catalog query engine
├── vercel.json                  # Vercel security headers and clean URL config
└── ORBITAL_project_report.txt   # Scientific and architectural documentation

---

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• A modern web browser with WebGL 2.0 support (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, Safari).
• Node.js (optional, for local development server).

Installation & Run

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/GuptaNandinii/ORBITAL.git
   cd ORBITAL

2. Launch a local server: Using npx (zero install needed):

   npx serve .

   Or using Python:

   python -m http.server 8080

3. Open the Dashboard: Navigate to http://localhost:8080 in your web browser.

---

⌨️ Tactical Controls & HUD Shortcuts

Key / Control	Function
Left Click + Drag	Orbit around celestial bodies in 3D space
Scroll Wheel	Camera zoom in / zoom out
Right Click + Drag	Pan 3D coordinate camera
Z	Toggle Zen / Dream Mode
ESC	Dismiss telemetry modals & AI assistant overlays
HUD Nav Sidebar	Direct jump to Sector Telemetry, Satellite Radar & Sentry Hazards

---

📡 Data Providers & Attribution

All telemetry visualized in ORBITAL is sourced from open scientific repositories:

• NASA Open APIs — Astronomy Picture of the Day, NeoWs, and DONKI.
• NASA JPL Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS) — Sentry System & CAD API.
• CelesTrak — General Perturbations (GP) Satellite Element Sets.
• NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) — Biological Spaceflight Research.

---

👩‍💻 Author & Maintainer

Developed by Nandini Gupta

• GitHub: @GuptaNandinii
• Project Repository: GuptaNandinii/ORBITAL

---

📄 License

This project is open-source and released under the MIT License.