Roadmap
Space Orbit Learning Path
My exploration of astronomy, orbital mechanics, and space compute.
| Order | Field | Learn About (Concepts) | Learn By Doing (Hands-on Projects) | Best Free Resources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Astronomy Basics | Constellations, celestial coordinates, moon phases, seasons, basic telescopes | Identify constellations and track the ISS or planets with free apps | Stellarium (free planetarium) NASA Astronomy Resources |
| 2 | Observational Astronomy | Telescopes, astrophotography, light pollution, citizen science projects | Take your first night sky photos or join a citizen science project | Sky & Telescope |
| 3 | Orbital Mechanics | Kepler’s laws, satellite orbits, Lagrange points, orbital decay | Track real satellites and calculate visibility times | Heavens-Above (live satellite tracker) |
| 4 | Space Technology & Satellites | Satellite types, communication, imaging, CubeSats, Starlink | Observe and log real satellite passes | NASA Earth Science & Satellites |
| 5 | Space Compute / Orbital AI | Orbital data centers, solar-powered satellites, latency, radiation challenges | Run simple orbital simulations | NVIDIA – Space Computing Announcement (March 2026) |
| 6 | Space Coding & Data Analysis | Python for astronomy, basic satellite data processing | Analyze public satellite data or orbital paths with Python | Astropy – Python for Astronomy Poliastro (orbital mechanics in Python) |
Disclaimer: This learning path links to third-party websites and free resources. I do not own or control these external sites. Content and availability may change over time. Use at your own risk.