Does your Twitter feed not have enough space in it?
Introducing Space Bot
A new twitter bot dedicated to all things space.
A Ground Track Generated by Space Bot
What Space Bot Does So Far
- Plots ground tracks for random objects in space
- Shows the two objects likeliest to collied that day, as well as when their closest approach will be.
Note: Just because the objects are the likeliest to collide, does not mean a collision is either imminent or likely. Space is big and these objects are often very small and stay far away from each other.
What SpaceBot Can’t Do
- Open the pod bay doors
What I May Implement in the Future
- When the next space launch is
- People currently in space
- CR3BP Trajectories
- NASA imagery – that’s not Nasa Image of the Day
- Current weather on mars
- etc…
Note: If you have a good idea for what I should implement into SpaceBot let me know in the comments below!
Code
This bot is made up of 2 components. The python scripts which physically make up the bot (they get the TLE’s, make the plots, upload stuff to twitter) and the scheduling portion which is just a batch script. The satellite data for the ground track plots is gotten from space-track.org and the likeliest collisions is scrapped off of celestrak.com
The Pyhton scripts can be found here.
I will not be posting the batch script as it’s only three lines, most of it pathing.
What is a Ground Track?
A ground track is the path a spacecraft traces out if it was projected down onto the surface of the Earth. It helps satellite planners see where the spacecraft will be relative to the Earth surface which is extremely important if it’s a communication or imaging satellite.
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