Orbit Visualization
Interactive mission exploration and batch analysis with Lightyear Viz
Summary
- Interactive 3D orbital visualization for research and communication.
- Supports playback control, perturbation toggles, and batch exports.
- Built with PySide6/Qt, PyQtGraph, and OpenGL.
Overview
Lightyear Viz is a desktop application that pairs an interactive 3D visualization environment with my orbital mechanics research stack. It enables real-time exploration of satellite orbits, conjunction events, and dust deployment scenarios—making it easier to understand complex orbital dynamics and communicate results.
The application supports both interactive exploration (selecting satellites, toggling perturbations, adjusting playback) and batch analysis workflows (generating figures, exporting animations for presentations and papers).
Features
Playback Controls
Play/pause, step frame-by-frame, adjustable speed, timeline scrubbing
Satellite Presets
Quick-load common orbital configurations; Walker, Flower, and custom constellations
Perturbation Toggles
Enable/disable gravity harmonics, drag, SRP, third-body effects in real-time
Dust Visualization
Render dust deployments, particle dispersions, and momentum transfer events
Capture & Export
Still images and MP4 video export for papers, presentations, and documentation
Visual Layers
Marker scales, orbit trails, overlays, ground tracks, and camera presets
Keyboard Shortcuts
Architecture
Lightyear Viz is built on PySide6 (Qt for Python) with PyQtGraph for high-performance plotting and OpenGL for 3D rendering. It integrates directly with the NASA Dust research stack—the same propagators and constellation builders used for optimization can drive the visualization.
- UI Layer: PySide6 widgets, modern Qt styling, responsive layout
- Rendering: PyQtGraph + OpenGL for smooth 3D orbital visualization
- Simulation: Satpy Tools propagators (shared with nasa_dust research)
- Export: Still images (PNG) and video (MP4 via ffmpeg)