Challenge: Creative Data Display with the Parker Solar Probe
Link: https://2022.spaceappschallenge.org/challenges/2022-challenges/creative-data-display/details
Project Summary: Dance of Irradiance is an HTML5 and JavaScript game designed to creatively display solar irradiance and magnetic field data from the SDO Spacecraft and Parker Solar Probe, respectively. It uses the Phaser open source framework to make a Canvas and WebGL powered game that will run in a browser.
In this game you will be helping our astronaut friend on a perilous mission near the surface of the sun! Your objective is to clean up as much space debris orbiting the sun as possible. Collecting space debris in the danger zone will award 30 points per piece of debris, while collecting space debris elsewhere will award 10 points per piece of debris.
However:
- You must avoid the routine solar flares (influenced by solar irradiance data from the SDO Spacecraft) while attempting to collect the space debris
- You must avoid the coronal mass ejections (influenced by magnetic field data from the Parker Solar Probe) by hiding in the space station
- If you get too close to the sun you will enter the danger zone and lose health points
Controls:
- Direction keys = navigate your astronaut up, down, left, and right
- Spacebar = boost for extra movement speed
In-Game Objects
| Item | Image | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Astronaut Friend |  |
Who is hiding behind that helmet? Is it me? Is it you? Is it AI? I guess we will never know... |
| Solar Flare |  |
The sun can get a little too hot for our astronaut friend at times. Avoid these at all costs. |
| Space Debris |  |
Unfortunately space debris has been found orbiting the sun. Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to collect as much space debris as you can. |
| Health Booster |  |
NASA appreciates the astronaut's efforts to clean up space debris and is launching health boosters into space for them! |
| Space Station |  |
The astronaut's home away from home. |
Mechanics:
- Astronaut Movement: The astronaut can move in any of the 4 keyboard directions (up, down, left, right). Each movement direction has a unique corresponding animation utilizing the astronaut's jetpack. Boosting the jetpack with spacebar makes your astronaut move even faster.
- Danger Zone: The danger zone represents the area where the astronaut's heat shielding is overwhelmed by the sun and your health points (HP) start depleting. The danger zone occupies roughly the top 1/3 of the scene. The incentive for staying close to the sun and suffering the HP loss is the increased point value obtained from collecting space debris.
- Astronaut Health: The astronaut starts with 100 HP. The astronaut will lose HP if they spend time too close to the sun (in the danger zone). The only way to restore HP is through Health Boosters.
- Health Boosters: Health boosters restore 10 HP when the astronaut collects them. They are randomly spawned.
- Astronaut Death: The astronaut can die in one of 3 ways: (1) running out of HP, (2) colliding with a solar flare, and (3) being caught by a coronal mass ejection. Death results in game over.
- Space Debris: Space debris is generated 1 at a time at a random x-coordinate at the top of the screen. The space debris then falls towards the bottom of the screen. If you catch the debris within the danger zone, you get 30 points. If you catch the debris anywhere else, you get 10 points. Once you catch a piece of space debris, the position of the space debris resets at a random x-coordinate at the top of the screen. If you don't catch the space debris, it hurtles into the void of space! Don't worry though, the space debris reset for you to try and capture again. There is no penalty for not catching a piece of space debris...aside from your guilty conscience for letting space continue to be polluted.
- Solar Flares: Solar flares are one of the data display mechanisms used in the game. Solar flares represent irradiance, the power per unit area (mW/m^2) received from the sun in the form of electromagnetic radition. In Dance of Irradiance, irradiance data was obtained from the SDO Spacecraft (see link below) and scaled to a number between 1 and 8. Solar flares are generated every 2 seconds, and the current scaled irradiance value determines the number of solar flares that appear on the screen at once. The more solar flares on the screen at once, the harder it is for the astronaut to dodge all of them. Hence, the perilousness of the astonaut's mission varies in real time with solar irradiance data. Getting hit by a solar flare will result in instant death for our poor astronaut.
- Coronal Mass Ejections: Coronal mass ejections are the other data display mechanism used in the game. Coronal mass ejections represent magnetic field strength (measured in gauss), which controls the movement of heated plasma at the surface of the sun. In Dance of Irradiance, magnetic field strength data is obtained from the Parker Solar Probe (see link below) and normalized to a value between 1 and 100 (which corresponds to the chance of a large 'coronal loop' being generated in-game). A coronal mass ejection is generated whenever the scaled magnetic field strength value exceeds 100. Coronal mass ejections are so large that the astronaut cannot possibly dodge between the ejection particles. Getting caught in the coronal mass ejection will result in instant death for our poor astronaut.
- Space Station: The only way for the astronaut to survive a coronal mass ejection is to hide in the shelter of their space station. The space station appears at a random location at a safe distance from the sun when a coronal mass ejection occurs.
Data Sources:
- SDO Spacecraft Irradiance Data: https://lasp.colorado.edu/eve/data_access/eve-one-minute-averages/index.html
- Parker Solar Probe Magnetic Field Data: http://research.ssl.berkeley.edu/data/psp/data/sci/fields/l2/mag_RTN/2020/03/
Image Sources:
- Banner photo created with image from NASA on Unsplash and font by Margarita Fray
- Health Booster created with image from Heart icon by Icons8
- Astronaut created with image from Astronaut icon by Icons8
- Space Station created with image from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/ISS_spacecraft_model_1.png/320px-ISS_spacecraft_model_1.png?fbclid=IwAR1blJNjyNpgt9lCYmFNz_wLeTrCgy7Oh3TMW7ZBR1hb07ZyIAWtWJ-HMTM
