Getting Started

Introduction

In this project, I analyzed the space missions in human history. I used Maven Analytics' Maven Space Challenge dataset to do so.

Exploration

The data

This dataset contains a single table in CSV format with 4631 records. Included in that table is information about each mission's name, location, date, and status of the launch, the company responsible, and the price, status, and name of the rocket.

Thought process

I began this project by thinking about what I wanted to focus on. I chose to look at the history of space travel throughout time, as opposed to focusing on a single country, rocket, or company. I felt that this would show a more complete history and allow us to see the possible improvements and changes we've made throughout time.

I considered what kind of information I might want to include in my visualization including:

• General information
  • The number of missions completed
  • The number of companies who have participated in missions
  • The total amount of money spent on space exploration
  • The number of launch sites and companies
• Detailed information
  • Mission statistics, such as success/failure, number of missions by country, and number of missions by company
  • Rocket statistics, such as number of missions per rocket and the number of rockets retired/active.

Analysis

Getting to know the data

In order to better understand the data, I used simple queries to look at history per country and company. I also looked at the time frame in which the missions took place. In addition, I assessed the total sum of money spent on missions, as well as the number of total missions, companies, countries, and rockets.

Sample Queries

Finding the number of rockets, their status, and the number of missions they've been used in.

SELECT  
  rocket
  , rocketstatus
  , COUNT(1)
FROM `bright-zodiac-346921.space_missions.space_missions`
GROUP BY 1,2

Finding the country from location field

SELECT  
  REGEXP_EXTRACT(location, r'[^,\d\s][^,\d]*$') AS country
  , COUNT(1)
FROM `bright-zodiac-346921.space_missions.space_missions`
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 2 DESC

This did require some follow-up research as some of the regular expressions extracted included 'Yellow Sea' and other locations that were not specifically countries.

Finding the year from the mission date as well as the number of missions in that year

SELECT  
  LEFT(CAST(date AS STRING),4)
  , COUNT(1)
FROM `bright-zodiac-346921.space_missions.space_missions`
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 1 DESC

Visuals

I used a Tableau dashboard to build my visualization. I wanted to work on my use of space on the dashboard without the visuals becoming overwhelming. I chose a color palette to work with and laid out the dashboard prior to beginning. In order to increase clarity, I focused on "Mission Stats" and "Rocket Stats."

Takeaway

Based on my visualization, it is clear to see that, prior to 2021, the age of space missions was between 1966 and 1978, with a sharp drop in space missions between 1979 and 2015. Russia and the US lead the world in space missions and there is an overall 89.9% success rate. Additionally, only 21.8% of rockets are currently active, with the Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket being the only one in the top 10 (by number of missions) to remain active.