🚀 OrbitChat - Interactive Space Learning App

OrbitChat is an educational app developed with the aim of making space exploration both fun and educational. OrbitChat allows users, especially kids, to interact with space-themed features like real-time information about planets, space news, Mars temperature, NASA's "Photo of the Day," and a NASA Gallery for beautiful imagery. The app also includes an AI-powered chatbot for educational conversations about space.

🎯 Main Purpose

The project was developed as to create an educational app that combines entertainment and learning about space. OrbitChat aims to inspire curiosity and a love for space by offering interactive and engaging features.

🌟 Features

• AI-powered Chatbot: Interact with a chatbot to learn space facts in a conversational and fun manner. Chat history is saved using Firestore for personalized experiences.
• NASA Photo of the Day: Get the latest "Photo of the Day" directly from NASA and explore the wonders of space.
• Planet Information: Learn interesting facts and details about the planets in our solar system.
• Space News: Stay updated with the latest space-related news from reliable sources.
• Mars Temperature: View real-time temperature updates on Mars.
• NASA Gallery: Explore an extensive collection of NASA’s space imagery.
• User Authentication: Ensures personalized sessions for each user using Firebase Authentication.

🚀 Technology Stack

• Frontend: Flutter (Dart)
• Backend: Firestore (for data storage, including chat logs)
• Authentication: Firebase Authentication
• API Integrations: NASA APIs, Spaceflight News API
• Database: Google Firebase Firestore (for user data, chat history, etc.)

Screenshots

Final APK

• Google Drive:

🛠️ Getting Started

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed on your local machine:

• Flutter SDK
• Dart
• Firebase account (for Firestore and Firebase Authentication)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/orbitchat.git
   cd orbitchat

2. Install dependencies:

   flutter pub get

3. Set up Firebase:

   • Create a Firebase project at Firebase Console.
   • Enable Firebase Authentication and Firestore.
   • Download the google-services.json file for Android or GoogleService-Info.plist for iOS.
   • Place these files in the respective directories (android/app for Android and ios/Runner for iOS).

4. Run the project:

   flutter run

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📚 API Setup

To fetch the space-related data, you will need the following APIs:

• NASA APIs: Obtain an API key from the NASA API portal.
• Spaceflight News API: No key is required. The Space News feature pulls data directly from this API.

Update the API keys and URLs in the app’s environment configuration.

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📂 Project Structure

/lib
  /models        # Data models
  /screens       # UI screens
  /services      # API and Firebase services
  /widgets       # Custom reusable widgets
  main.dart      # App entry point

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🙌 Contribution

We welcome contributions! If you'd like to contribute, please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature (git checkout -b feature/feature-name).
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some feature').
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/feature-name).
5. Open a pull request.

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💡 Future Improvements

• Implement real-time chat with other users.
• Add push notifications for NASA events or space news updates.
• Include additional space exploration missions.

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🏆 Hackathon Credits

This project was developed by Team Blacksheeps:

• Ankur Raj
• Harsh Raj
• Gyan Vardhan

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

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🤝 Acknowledgements

• NASA API for space imagery and data
• Spaceflight News API for real-time news updates
• Firebase for backend services and authentication

Feel free to raise an issue if you encounter any problems or need further assistance!