Ralph Jhon Ramos

NASA Space Apps Challenge: Meteor Madness

image

Deployed Site

Homepage of project

Source Code

About the Challenge

A newly identified near-Earth asteroid, “Impactor-2025,” poses a potential threat to Earth, but do we have the tools to enable the public and decision makers to understand and mitigate its risks? NASA datasets include information about known asteroids and the United States Geological Survey provides critical information that could enable modeling the effects of asteroid impacts, but this data needs to be integrated to enable effective visualization and decision making. Your challenge is to develop an interactive visualization and simulation tool that uses real data to help users model asteroid impact scenarios, predict consequences, and evaluate potential mitigation strategies. (Planetary Science Division)

About Our Project

NASA Meteor Bears is an interactive asteroid impact simulator that transforms complex NASA and USGS data into an immersive educational experience. Using real Near-Earth Object data from NASA’s API and USGS seismic datasets, it simulates asteroid trajectories with scientifically accurate physics, calculating kinetic energy, crater formation, earthquake magnitudes, and tsunami heights using peer-reviewed formulas. The platform features stunning 3D visualizations with a photorealistic Earth, dynamic orbital mechanics, and realistic terrain impact maps showing geographic regions, population centers, and cascading environmental effects. Enhanced by AI-driven risk assessments correlating asteroids with historical earthquakes, it empowers scientists, policymakers, educators, and the public to understand and prepare for planetary defense scenarios.

Project Details

NASA Meteor Bears is an interactive educational game that simulates asteroid impacts using real data from NASA’s Near-Earth Object database and USGS seismic records. Built with Next.js, TypeScript, and Three.js, it models impact physics and visualizes effects from orbital paths to crater formation on real terrain. The game creatively combines science and storytelling through AI-generated risk scenarios powered by GROQ’s Llama 3.1 LLM, which compares asteroid energy to past earthquakes to make learning more engaging. By blending accurate data, immersive visuals, and interactive gameplay, the project turns complex planetary defense science into an accessible and memorable learning experience for students, educators, and the public.

NASA DATA

TECH STACK: