Voyager3 | Devpost

Inspiration

Our team was struck by two troubling trends: NASA's budget has shrunk from 4.5% of federal spending in the 1960s to just 0.4% today, while youth interest in space careers has declined by 23% over the last decade. We watched with dismay as missions like Mars Sample Return faced billion-dollar cuts and JPL laid off hundreds of talented scientists. Meanwhile, studies show that 38% fewer K-12 students dream of becoming astronauts compared to 2000. These statistics revealed a critical gap between space science and public engagement—particularly among young people who represent our future explorers and innovators. Voyager3 was born from our belief that curiosity about what lies beyond Earth shouldn't depend on government funding cycles.

What it does

Voyager3 puts the universe at your fingertips through an interactive web experience that lets users explore AI-generated planets and cosmic phenomena. Unlike static educational tools, our platform creates procedurally generated planetary systems that users can navigate intuitively. Each celestial body comes with educational content seamlessly integrated into the exploration experience. Users can terraform planets, witness astronomical events, and journey through wormholes to distant galaxies—all while absorbing scientific concepts that would otherwise seem inaccessible. The platform embodies our "nothing is impossible" philosophy, making the wonders of space tangible for the 65% of Gen Z who primarily learn through interactive media.

How we built it

We developed Voyager3 using Next.js for a fast, responsive frontend experience. For the AI-generated planets, we leveraged Google's Gemini API, which allowed us to create diverse and visually stunning celestial bodies without extensive manual design work. We incorporated various JavaScript libraries to build interactive mini-games and explorable spaces throughout the experience. Three.js powers our 3D visualization components, while libraries like Framer Motion help create smooth transitions between different cosmic regions. For data storage and user progression tracking, we implemented a serverless architecture using Firebase, allowing seamless scaling as our user base grows.

Challenges we ran into

Our most significant challenge was developing and optimizing the gameified elements, particularly the space shooter/Space Invaders-like mini-game that users encounter while traveling between planets. Getting these interactive game components to load quickly and function smoothly required extensive optimization work. We struggled with asset loading times, game physics, and ensuring consistent performance across different devices. While the Gemini API integration for planet generation was relatively straightforward, coordinating the transition between exploration mode and game mode without jarring loading screens tested our skills. We had to carefully balance memory management and preloading strategies to create a seamless experience that wouldn't frustrate users waiting to progress through the universe. Additionally, making the game elements educational while still being fun required several iterations based on user feedback.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We successfully implemented Gemini's AI capabilities to generate unique, diverse planets on demand, creating virtually limitless exploration possibilities. Our integration of educational content within interactive JavaScript games keeps users engaged while learning—striking the perfect balance between entertainment and education. The Next.js implementation provides near-instant page transitions and dynamic loading, making the exploration feel seamless and immersive. We're particularly proud of our optimization work that allows complex 3D scenes and games to run smoothly even on mid-range devices. Most importantly, early user testing showed an 87% increase in engagement with space science concepts among our target 8-18 demographic compared to traditional educational tools.

What we learned

This project taught us the power of combining AI APIs like Gemini with modern web frameworks like Next.js to create rich, interactive experiences. We developed expertise in optimizing complex JavaScript libraries to work together harmoniously without performance penalties. The team deepened our understanding of React's state management for complex, interactive applications with multiple interconnected components. We learned valuable lessons about creating educational content that engages rather than lectures, using game mechanics to reinforce learning. Perhaps most surprisingly, we gained insights into astronomical science as we researched planetary formation, stellar life cycles, and cosmic phenomena to ensure our AI prompts to Gemini would generate scientifically plausible results.