Explore space using these free tools while you’re stuck at home

The World Health Organization (WHO) has prescribed social distancing to reduce the effect of coronavirus. So, more and more countries are forcing lockdowns and companies are advising people to work from home.

I’ve been working remotely for years, so I’ve mastered the art of not getting bored by petting my cats and spending time in the kitchen. But that might not be everyone’s cup of tea. So, here are a bunch of tools that lets you explore space and different museum artifacts.

ESA Sky

The European Space Agency (ESA), has a tool called ESA Sky, which lets you explore the space through the eyes of different space-related telescopes and satellites such as Hubble and Akari. You can either choose science mode to look for specific objects in the sky or choose explorer mode to wander around different galaxies.

NASA Solar System Explorer

NASA’s interactive tool gives you a real-time snapshot of our solar system. Apart from the positions of planets and moons, it also gives you information about comets present in the solar system at the moment. The site is quite lightweight, and works really well on mobile. On the site, you can also learn about different celestial objects and see high-resolution photos.

Google Maps Space

Well, Google Maps doesn’t just let you explore the streets of the Earth. It’ll also let you go into space and traverse surfaces of Venus, Moon, Mars, Europa, and Ganymede.

Uphere.space

We use tons of satellites every day from getting information to using them to determine our position. But ever wondered where these satellites are? This website, uphere.space, will tell you the exact position of the website and even if you can see them overhead. You can search and track over 3,200 satellites, and the site keeps on adding the new ones as they launch.

Star mapper

This is another stellar tool from the ESA, which lets you look at the position of stars and distance between them. The data is captured from the agency’s Hipparcos mission that took place in the 90s. 

Rocket Watch

This is an awesome site if you love watching rocket launches. It shows a schedule of upcoming launches on the homepage. Plus, you can take the nostalgic past and watch past events too. What’s more, there’s an Android app as well.

Honorary mentions:

• Live stream of cameras onboard the International Space Station (ISS).
• A game that lets you try landing SpaceX’s Falcon 9 on the pad.
• NASA’s official image library.