🎶 Soundtrack for the Stars

As you orbit through the story of HoloAstro—a vision where spacecraft navigation becomes as intuitive as tracing stars on a touchscreen—let “Fireflies” by Owl City illuminate the journey.

With its dreamy synths and lyrics like “I’d like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly,” the song pulses with the same wonder that Dezell Turner channels through augmented reality. His tool doesn’t just map missions—it makes the cosmos feel personal, poetic, and possible.

Both the track and the technology ask us to imagine boldly and reach gently. A love letter to the future, from the heart of childhood dreams.

To the dreamers, the builders, and the ones who light up the sky in AR and melody alike— To infinity and beyond. 🌌🚀💫

🎶🔭🪐🧃🌱👨‍🚀✨ 🔊 Fireflies by Owl City

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Imagine holding the solar system in your hands—planets orbiting, trajectories bending, gravity wells pulsing—all rendered in real-time, holographic clarity.

That’s the future CU Boulder PhD student Dezell Turner is building with HoloAstro, an augmented reality (AR) platform poised to transform how we plan space missions.

Turner’s innovation bridges the precision of astrodynamics with the intuitiveness of AR, empowering engineers, students, and private space companies to design interplanetary trajectories as easily as plotting a road trip.

Whether optimizing for fuel, time, or orbital mechanics, HoloAstro makes the cosmos navigable.

🌍 HoloAstro: The Google Maps of Space

Formerly known as ASTROMECH—a nod to Star Wars’ droid lineage—HoloAstro is more than a clever name. It’s a paradigm shift. Traditional trajectory planning requires deep expertise, complex math, and opaque software. HoloAstro replaces that with an immersive, visual interface where users can see, touch, and manipulate orbital paths in 3D space.

Using Microsoft HoloLens, Turner’s system projects dynamic flight paths—curving arcs, gravity assists, and Lagrange point transfers—between celestial bodies. With a pinch or swipe, users can adjust parameters and instantly see how a spacecraft’s journey changes. It’s like Google Maps, but for navigating the gravitational ballet of the solar system.

“When R2-D2 projects the map to Luke Skywalker, we’re creating a real-world version of that,” Turner says. “But instead of finding Jedi, we’re finding optimal trajectories.”

🕶️ AR Meets Astrodynamics: A Hands-On Space Mission Simulator

Turner’s work, under advisor Prof. Jay McMahon, blends cutting-edge visualization with rigorous physics. HoloAstro isn’t just a pretty interface—it’s powered by real orbital mechanics, delta-V calculations, and multibody dynamics. Users can simulate missions to the Moon, Mars, or beyond, adjusting for fuel constraints, launch windows, and gravitational slingshots. This hands-on approach could revolutionize how space agencies and startups plan missions. Instead of relying solely on static equations and abstract models, mission designers can see the consequences of their decisions in real time—making spaceflight more intuitive, collaborative, and creative.

🚀 Creating ‘Parking Spots’ in Space

One of HoloAstro’s most promising applications is in cislunar space—the region between Earth and the Moon. NASA’s upcoming Gateway Space Station will orbit a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), a gravitationally stable “parking spot” ideal for lunar missions. While NASA has the tools to chart these complex orbits, smaller aerospace companies often don’t. HoloAstro democratizes access to this knowledge, allowing new players to design lunar missions without needing a PhD in orbital mechanics. It’s a leap toward equitable space exploration.

📡 HoloAstro: The Future of Space Navigation

At its core, HoloAstro is a modular, customizable platform. Users can plug in different propulsion models, adjust gravitational influences, and even simulate multi-spacecraft coordination. It’s not just a tool—it’s a sandbox for the solar system. Turner envisions HoloAstro being used in classrooms, mission control centers, and startup garages alike. It’s a bridge between imagination and execution, between science fiction and aerospace reality.

“There’s an infinite number of ways to get from Earth to the Moon,” Turner says. “I want people to explore those options—not just calculate them.”

🔥 Shaping the Future of Space Exploration

Turner, a Smead Scholar, NSF Fellow, and MIT alum, is part of a new generation of aerospace engineers who see technology not just as a tool, but as a language. His passion for space is matched by his love of storytelling—he’s also a science writer and sci-fi author, using narrative to make complex ideas accessible. With HoloAstro, he’s not just building software—he’s building a new way of thinking about space. One where exploration is visual, collaborative, and open to all.

🌟 Explore More

Learn about HoloAstro’s innovations on CU Boulder Today and Dezell Turner’s official site

#SpaceNavigation 🛰️ #AugmentedReality 🚀 #FutureTech 💡 #SpaceExploration 🌍 #Innovation 🌟