TARDIS is a tool that creates synthetic observations (spectra) for exploding stars (supernovae). A supernova marks the brilliant death throes of a star, during which it outshines its entire galaxy. Through their explosive stellar death, supernovae enrich the Universe with new elements necessary for the formation of planets and life as we know it. From the iron in your blood to the silicon in your laptop, supernovae are responsible for producing many important elements from the primordial hydrogen and helium left over from the Big Bang. TARDIS provides a link between theory and observations: by creating synthetic spectra from theoretical assumptions and comparing these to observations, we can both interpret data and test models for why, when and how supernova explosions occur. We, the community around TARDIS, are interested in combining astronomy, computer science, statistics and modern software design to build a tool that is useful both in research and teaching alike (with supporting documentation that would, in theory, allow anyone to recreate the project from scratch).