Astrova
A full-stack NASA space data explorer with real-time asteroid tracking, Mars rover gallery, Earth imagery, and AI-powered insights.
Status
Live
Project Overview
Astrova is a full-stack space exploration application built with React, Node.js and Express that connects to NASA's Open APIs to let users explore the cosmos. It features an Astronomy Picture of the Day viewer, Mars Rover photo gallery, Near Earth Object asteroid tracker with AI insights, and EPIC Earth imagery — all wrapped in a space-themed UI with data visualisations.
The main challenge was integrating multiple NASA APIs with different response shapes and rate limits, while keeping the frontend responsive and the AI cache layer efficient to reduce OpenAI costs.
Key Features
Technical Implementation
▸ NASA API Integration
Built a Node.js/Express proxy server that handles authentication, rate limiting and data transformation for 6 NASA endpoints including APOD, Mars Rover, NeoWs, EPIC and Image Library.
▸ AI Insight Caching
Implemented MongoDB caching layer for OpenAI responses using MD5 hashed prompts as keys with 7-day TTL, eliminating redundant API calls for repeated queries.
▸ Data Visualisation
Built interactive Recharts visualisations for asteroid size vs miss distance, rover photo counts by sol, and hazard classification breakdowns.
▸ Error Handling
Centralised Axios-aware error middleware with NASA-specific status code messages, distinguishing between NASA API errors, network failures and application errors.
Tech Stack
frontend
backend
database
ai
cloud
tools