Beyond Sky: Space & NASA Data Platform

Overview

Beyond Sky is a space-focused web platform that aggregates data from NASA and other space-related APIs to display launches, missions, and space updates.

This project holds a special place for me — it was intended to be my first React project, but I initially found React and state management overwhelming. Instead of forcing it, I stepped back, learned the fundamentals through other projects, and later revisited Beyond Sky with a much stronger understanding.

---

What Users Can Do

• Explore Space Data: View information about missions, launches, and space events.
• Filter Content: Apply filters to narrow down data based on categories.
• Browse Multiple Sources: Data aggregated from NASA and other space-related APIs.
• Responsive UI: Clean and readable layout across devices.
• Optimized Requests: Reduced unnecessary API calls through caching.

---

Why I Built This

I wanted to build something that:

• Used real-world APIs
• Handled large and frequently changing datasets
• Required thoughtful state and data management

Beyond Sky started as a learning experiment, but after revisiting it, it became a practical exercise in doing things the right way instead of the rushed way.

---

First Attempt: Overwhelm & Pause

During the first attempt:

• React concepts felt overwhelming
• Managing API responses became messy
• State handling lacked structure

Instead of pushing through with poor design, I paused the project and focused on:

• Learning React fundamentals
• Understanding state management
• Building smaller projects to gain confidence

---

Rebuilding with Better Architecture

When I revisited Beyond Sky, I rebuilt key parts with a clearer plan:

• Introduced Redux Toolkit (RTK Query) for structured API handling and caching
• Implemented in-file caching to avoid hitting NASA API rate limits
• Normalized and handled responses from multiple APIs
• Added filtering logic to make large datasets usable
• Reduced redundant network requests significantly

This phase transformed Beyond Sky from a basic experiment into a well-structured frontend application.

---

Tech Stack

• React
• Redux Toolkit
• RTK Query
• NASA APIs
• Other Space APIs
• In-file Caching
• Tailwind CSS

---

Key Takeaways

• Stepping back is sometimes the right decision.
• Revisiting old projects with new skills is extremely valuable.
• API rate limits force better architectural thinking.
• RTK Query simplifies API handling and caching.
• Learning is nonlinear — progress compounds over time.

---

After Build & Impact

• This project helped solidify my understanding of React and state management.
• It taught me how to handle multiple external APIs responsibly.
• It improved my confidence in revisiting and refactoring older codebases.
• The lessons from this project influenced how I approach frontend data-heavy applications.

---

Future Improvements

• Add persistent caching (localStorage or IndexedDB).
• Improve UI/UX for complex datasets.
• Add visualizations for space data.
• Expand support for additional space APIs.