Utility Commands

point

Returns a point from the scene state by name, or null if not found.

Parameter	Type	Description
point	string	The name of the point to retrieve

Returns: A Point, OrientedPoint, or Satellite instance if found, null otherwise.

Example:

const sat = point("sat");
if (sat) {
  // Point exists, safe to use
  angle("nadir", sat.frame.x);
} else {
  // Point not found
  log("Satellite not found");
}

camera

Returns a camera from the scene state by name, or null if not found.

Parameter	Type	Description
name	string	The name of the camera to retrieve

Returns: A THREE.Camera instance if found, null otherwise. Cameras can be found in:

• Built-in cameras (like 'main')
• Cameras attached to OrientedPoints or Satellites

Example:

const cam = camera("sat1");
if (cam) {
  // Camera exists, safe to use
  // ... use camera ...
} else {
  // Camera not found
  log("Camera not found");
}

log

Prints a message to the integrated console.

Parameter	Type	Description
message	any	The message or value to be displayed

Example:

log("Hello World");
log(42);
log([1, 2, 3]);

deg2rad

Converts degrees to radians.

Parameter	Type	Description
x	number	Angle in degrees

rad2deg

Converts radians to degrees.

Parameter	Type	Description
x	number	Angle in radians

fetchTLE

Fetches the Two-Line Element (TLE) for a satellite using its COSPAR ID. This function will perform a request to Celestrak.

Parameter	Type	Description
norad_id	string	COSPAR ID of the satellite

setTime

Sets the current simulation time. This affects time-dependent calculations like satellite positions.

Parameter	Type	Description
newTime	Date	The new simulation time to set

Example:

setTime(new Date('2024-01-24T12:00:00Z'))

toggleSimTime

Toggles the simulation time between running and paused states. When running, time advances at the rate specified by the time multiplier.

Example:

toggleSimTime() // If time was running, it will pause. If it was paused, it will resume.

pauseSimTime

Pauses the simulation time. The simulation time will stop advancing until resumed.

Example:

pauseSimTime() // Time stops advancing

resumeSimTime

Resumes the simulation time. Time will begin advancing at the rate specified by the time multiplier.

Example:

resumeSimTime() // Time begins advancing again

distance

Calculates the Euclidean distance between two points in 3D space.

Parameter	Type	Description
point1	Vector3	First point coordinates [x, y, z]
point2	Vector3	Second point coordinates [x, y, z]

Returns: The straight-line distance between the two points in the same units as the input coordinates.

Example:

const p1 = [0, 0, 0];
const p2 = [3, 4, 0];
const dist = distance(p1, p2);  // Returns 5
log(`Distance: ${dist}`);

haversineDistance

Calculates the great circle distance between two points on Earth using the haversine formula.

Parameter	Type	Description
lat1	number	Latitude of first point in degrees
lon1	number	Longitude of first point in degrees
lat2	number	Latitude of second point in degrees
lon2	number	Longitude of second point in degrees

Returns: Distance in kilometers between the two points along Earth's surface.

Example:

// Calculate distance between London and New York
const distance = haversineDistance(51.5074, -0.1278, 40.7128, -74.0060);
log(`Distance: ${distance} km`);