Space-Simulator

Description

Welcome to our project! This is a Space Simulator program made in Java, providing a simple simulation of celestial bodies (i.e. stars, planets, moons, and asteroids) in space. It was designed to help high school students develop a deeper understanding of the physics that contribute to a solar system by reinforcing their learning with an interactive, visual model.

Usage

Space Sim operates within the parameters of 20 celestial bodies. The user can use the GUI navigation panels to either input different types of celestial bodies and their corresponding properties (e.g. mass, radius, orbit planet/star, etc.), or load them from a text file. Using the data read from the file or tracked during the simulation, the program can also output various properties of celestial bodies or of the solar system, as specified below.

Functionalities

• Load and Save celestial body information - Enter a file name or a file number from the list of saved files.
• Display Stats - Displays the properties of all bodies in the simulation.
• Support Life - Enter a planet and check if it can support life
• Shortest Path - Enter two planets and a length of path to check. If the length of path entered is longer than the shortest path between the two planets, the distance will be displayed.
• Older than - Enter a minimum age. The program will return all bodies older than the minimum age entered.
• Add Body - A simple way to add a body during the simulation; requires less specifications than the text file inputs require.
• Largest Moon
• Most Populated Planet
• Oldest Star
• Fastest Asteroid
• List Bodies
• Average Area
• Average Age

Instructions for Use

1. Run the SpaceRunner.java file.
2. Open the menu, and enter a file name to be added (see sample.txt file for a sample input). Press Add File
3. Run the simulation by clicking the Run Sim button. Pause Sim and Clear Sim can be used to pause or clear the simulation.
4. To add a body, click Add Body, and enter the specifications as prompted. Fill the Orbit Star field if the body to be entered is a Planet, and the Orbit Planet field if the body is a Moon. After filling the specifications fields, click the corresponding Add button depending on the body. Navigate back to the main menu by clicking the Menu button.

• To close the menu at any time, press the Menu button.
• To display any of the functionalities specified above, enter the necessary fields if required, and click the button of the fields you want displayed. The information should appear on the left panel.
• To save a file, enter a file number to associate with it, and click the Save File button. To load that file again, enter the file number and click the Load File button.
• At any point, use the File Names button. All file names and numbers will be displayed on the left panel.

Credits

Collaborators:

• Samuel Ho
• Susie Choi
• Tony Li