Curious to know what's happening in Space? Wondering when is a satellite or a spaceflight is going to be launched? Try Nextinspace, a command line program to print latest Space events in Terminal. Nextinspace uses Launch Library 2 API to fetch the details of upcoming Space-related events and orbital launches. All from command line! It is written in Python programming language and released under GPL-3.0 License.
Install Nextinspace in Linux
Nextinspace can be installed using Pip package manager. Make sure you have installed Pip on your Linux system as described below.
After installing Pip, install Nextinspace using any one of the following commands:
$ pip install nextinspace
Or,
$ pip install git+https://github.com/The-Kid-Gid/nextinspace
Print Latest Space Events With Nextinspace In Terminal
Nextinspace is very new project. Currently, it displays the latest Space events and launches only.
To print the latest space event, simply run Nextinspace without any options:
$ nextinspace
Sample output:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Soyuz 2.1a | Soyuz MS-17 │ │31/6, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan │ │ │ │ Wed October 14, 2020 05:45 AM IST │ │ Launch Type: Human Exploration │ │ │ │ Soyuz MS-17 begins expedition 63 by carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, │ │ Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins to the International Space │ │ Station aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. │ │ After launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, they will rendezvous to │ │ the station where they will remain for their 6 month stay. │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
As you can see, Nextinspace utility provides the following details:
- Name of the satellites,
- Name of the exact launch complex in a launch center
- Name of the satellite launch center,
- Name of the country where the launch center is located,
- Date and time of the launch,
- Launch type,
- And a brief description of the satellites/spacecraft/spaceflight/rockets etc.
You can also display the events or launches only.
Display space events only using Nextinspace
To print the only space events, use -e
or --events-only
flags.
$ nextinspace -e
Or,
$ nextinspace --events-only
Sample output:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Soyuz MS-17 Docking │ │International Space Station │ │ │ │ Wed October 14, 2020 08:50 AM IST │ │ Event Type: Docking │ │ │ │ The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft will dock to the International Space Station carrying │ │ three new Expedition 63 crew members : ROSCOSMOS cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and │ │ Sergey Kud-Sverchkov as well as NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins. │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
These are typically not covered by standard launches. These events could be spacecraft landings, engine tests, or spacewalks.
Display launches only using Nextinspace
If you want to print the launches only, use -l
or --launches-only
flags like below:
$ nextinspace -l
Or,
$ nextinspace --launches-only
This command will only display orbital and suborbital launches. Generally these will be all orbital launches and suborbital launches which aim to reach “space” or the Karman line.
For more details, refer the help section by running the following command:
$ nextinspace -h
Or,
$ nextinspace --help
Also, refer the project's official github page given below.
Resource:
Featured image by WikiImages from Pixabay.