Earth updates, coordinate change for 3D, better trails (0.1.2/c)

Added nicer visuals to earth (kudos to @0xSabrina for advice, will add landmasses or clouds in the future), made trail look better with fading, and changed the coordinate axes (initially x-y because 2D, but then I wanted to change it to a top down view, and for a drop-in 3D implementation, now x-z (top down view for an equatorial orbit)

The earth now spins as well

Hopefully, next update works on the trajectory prediction, and then add the 3D camera
Long term, I’d like to add small lessons on orbital mechanics
As always, web demo updated, check it out :D

UI Revamp, Pannin’ and Zoomin’ (0.1.2/b)

Added the ability to pan and zoom the viewport, added an inoperable view settings box (hopefully for the next update), and made the UI look a little bit cooler

Next steps are making a trajectory orbit display, instead of the trail shown (history trail)
As always, demo webpage updated, check it out :D

Attitude / Thruster System Implementation (0.1.2)

Added a propulsion system to our boy sputnik. Values visibly change in the telemetry box

Controllable with WASD
Next steps would be to make a trajectory prediction / Orbit preview system (KSP Like), crash detection, and visible thruster feedback
As always, demo updated, check it out

I organized everything in the main code file into neat functions (0.1.1)

(it was some sort of linear madness before), but now its better

I noticed the craft was being somewhat obscured behind the planet (it is already 3D), so I switched to an ortographic camera and adjusted some other things

My next step will be enabling craft control, so that orbits can look nicely

Good progress (0.1.0)

I moved the project from running locally and moved it to a webpage.

Instead of using semi-kepler formulas, I changed it to the leapfrog formula integration due to value instability.
Switched to Javascript over from python for the webpage.

Currently rendering in threejs for a future 3D implementation

Hope to add multiple crafts soon for rendezvous tutorials
Check it out, the demo is live :D

Hey, first devlog here

I got inspired by big games like KSP, and got really interested in orbital mechanics

There are lots of people that don’t understand how orbits work out there, and the idea of getting 2 spacecrafts within 5 meters of each other while each is moving so fast, at a humongous distance, is honestly an insane feat

I hope my project can help represent how these mechanics work, show and teach phasing orbits and intercepting properly

Here is the first implementation, using matplotlib graphs to display orbits. I’d then like to move that to a webpage, using a Three.js implementation for it to look nicely, and possibly get a nice 3D rendering.

I hope this helps someone learn something eventually