# DailySpace

> DailySpace is a web app that brings you NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) with an immersive, cinematic experience. It features a 3D interactive Cosmos Map, curated collections, and daily space imagery with full explanations and credits.

DailySpace displays one new astronomical image every day sourced from the NASA APOD API. The archive contains thousands of dated entries going back to June 16, 1995. Each entry includes a title, high-resolution image (or video embed), scientific explanation written by professional astronomers, and photographer/source credit. The site is designed for space enthusiasts, educators, students, and anyone curious about the universe.

The site is free, requires no login, and works as an installable PWA on mobile and desktop.

## Site Information

- Name: DailySpace
- URL: https://dailyapp.space
- Language: English
- Content type: Educational / Science / Astronomy
- Data source: NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) API
- Update frequency: Daily (one new image per day)
- Content license: Images are credited to NASA and individual photographers/institutions per APOD guidelines

## Core Pages

- [Homepage](https://dailyapp.space/): Today's featured APOD image displayed as a cinematic full-bleed hero, a grid of the most recent images, and shortcuts to curated collections. This is the main entry point and updates every day.
- [Archive](https://dailyapp.space/archive): A chronological, paginated grid of all NASA APOD images in the database. Supports infinite scroll. Each card links to the full image detail page.
- [Search](https://dailyapp.space/search): Full-text search across all APOD titles and explanations. Returns matching entries ranked by relevance. Useful for finding specific astronomical objects, events, or photographers.
- [Cosmos Map](https://dailyapp.space/cosmos): An interactive 3D star map built with Three.js and React Three Fiber. Users can navigate through a visualization of galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, and other deep-sky objects. APOD images appear as markers at their approximate real cosmic locations. Supports warp-speed travel animations, search, and information panels.
- [Collections](https://dailyapp.space/collections): Six curated themed galleries that group APOD images by astronomical category: Galaxies, Nebulae, Planets, Moon, Stars & Clusters, and Earth from Space.

## Collections

- [Galaxies](https://dailyapp.space/collections/galaxies): Spiral arms, elliptical giants, and cosmic collisions. Journey through billions of light-years of galactic wonders. Keywords: galaxy, spiral, elliptical, andromeda, milky way, ngc, messier.
- [Nebulae](https://dailyapp.space/collections/nebulae): Stellar nurseries and cosmic clouds where stars are born and die. Witness the birthplaces of solar systems. Keywords: nebula, emission, reflection, planetary nebula, horsehead, orion.
- [Planets](https://dailyapp.space/collections/planets): Our solar system neighbors captured in stunning detail. From Mars dust storms to Saturn's rings. Keywords: mars, jupiter, saturn, venus, mercury, uranus, neptune.
- [The Moon](https://dailyapp.space/collections/moon): Earth's ancient companion through all its phases. Craters, maria, and lunar eclipses up close. Keywords: moon, lunar, eclipse, crater.
- [Stars & Clusters](https://dailyapp.space/collections/stars): From supernovas to globular clusters. The life cycles of suns across the cosmos. Keywords: star, supernova, cluster, pleiades, betelgeuse, stellar.
- [Earth from Space](https://dailyapp.space/collections/earth): Our blue marble as seen from orbit. Auroras, city lights, and the thin line of atmosphere protecting all life. Keywords: earth, aurora, iss, space station, blue marble, earthrise.

## Content Structure

Each APOD image has a dedicated page at the URL pattern:

    https://dailyapp.space/image/{YYYY-MM-DD}

For example: https://dailyapp.space/image/2024-12-25

Each image page contains:
- Title: The name of the astronomical object, event, or phenomenon
- Date: The date this image was NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (format: YYYY-MM-DD)
- Image: A high-resolution photograph or illustration (or a video/iframe embed for non-image entries)
- HD Image: When available, a link to the full-resolution version suitable as a desktop wallpaper
- Explanation: A multi-paragraph scientific explanation written by professional astronomers, typically 100-300 words
- Credit/Copyright: Attribution to the photographer, institution, or space agency. Many images are public domain (NASA), others are copyrighted by individual astrophotographers
- Media type: Either "image" or "video"
- Navigation: Links to the previous and next day's APOD entry
- Related images: A grid of 4 related APOD entries
- Actions: Save to favorites (local), share via Web Share API, download HD wallpaper, view location in the 3D Cosmos Map

## Feeds and Machine-Readable Formats

- [RSS Feed](https://dailyapp.space/rss.xml): The latest 20 APOD entries in RSS 2.0 format with Yahoo Media RSS extensions for image metadata
- [Sitemap](https://dailyapp.space/sitemap.xml): Complete XML sitemap including all static pages, collection pages, and individual image pages with Google Image Sitemap extensions
- [llms.txt](https://dailyapp.space/llms.txt): Concise AI-readable site overview (this file is the expanded version)

## Additional Pages

- [About](https://dailyapp.space/about): DailySpace mission statement, how the app works, and attribution to NASA APOD
- [History](https://dailyapp.space/history): "On this day in space history" — shows the APOD image published on today's date in previous years
- [Updates](https://dailyapp.space/updates): Changelog of new features and improvements
- [Profile](https://dailyapp.space/profile): User's saved/favorited images stored locally in the browser (no account required)

## Technical Details

- Framework: Astro 5 (server-side rendered)
- Hosting: Self-hosted via Docker + Caddy reverse proxy
- 3D Engine: Three.js via React Three Fiber (Cosmos Map only)
- PWA: Installable progressive web app with offline support and push notifications
- Performance: Targets Lighthouse score 95+, lazy-loaded images with blur placeholders
- Accessibility: WCAG-compliant alt text on all content images, keyboard navigation support, semantic HTML

## Optional

- [Profile](https://dailyapp.space/profile): Client-side favorites management, no authentication required
- [404 Page](https://dailyapp.space/404): Custom not-found page with navigation back to the homepage