Version 37 NUG

**NSSDC Activities, Accomplishments, and Future Directions**

1 Activities and Accomplishments, FY 2004-2005
[2](#activities-and-accomplishments-fy-2004-2005)

1.1 NSSDC Overview [2](#nssdc-overview)

1.2 Data ingest [4](#data-ingest)

1.2.1 Heliophysics [6](#heliophysics)

1.2.2 Planetary Science [6](#planetary-science)

1.2.3 Astrophysical Science [8](#astrophysical-science)

1.3 Administration [9](#administration)

1.3.1 External Administration [9](#external-administration)

1.3.2 Internal Administration [10](#internal-administration)

1.4 Archival storage [11](#archival-storage)

1.5 Data management [14](#data-management)

1.6 Access (Distribution of data) [15](#access-distribution-of-data)

1.7 Preservation planning [18](#__RefHeading___Toc7497007)

1.8 NSSDC Education and Public Outreach
[21](#nssdc-education-and-public-outreach)

1.8.1 NSSDC Educational Web Pages [22](#nssdc-educational-web-pages)

1.8.2 Radio JOVE Project [22](#radio-jove-project)

1.8.3 Moon Trees Project [22](#moon-trees-project)

2 Future Directions FY 2006-2010 [23](#future-directions-fy-2006-2010)

2.1 Major themes [23](#major-themes)

2.1.1 Preserving information efficiently
[23](#preserving-information-efficiently)

2.1.2 Doing more cost effectively (more NSSDC for the buck)
[24](#doing-more-cost-effectively-more-nssdc-for-the-buck)

2.1.3 Providing better solutions for the future while preserving the
past
[25](#providing-better-solutions-for-the-future-while-preserving-the-past)

2.1.4 Resident Archives -- bridge to quality mission data
[26](#resident-archives-bridge-to-quality-mission-data)

2.1.5 Finding the right data, right now
[26](#finding-the-right-data-right-now)

2.1.6 Working Smarter [27](#working-smarter)

3 Appendix A: Acronym List [28](#appendix-a-acronym-list)

# Activities and Accomplishments, FY 2004-2005

## NSSDC Overview

The NSSDC was established by NASA in the mid-60s to provide for the
preservation and dissemination of scientific data from NASA missions. 
It now manages an archive of data from 1,546 investigations carried on
545 spacecraft over the past 47 years.  The digital component of the
archive amounts to over 36 TB distributed across 2,300 distinct
\"datasets.\" In recent years the data volume is growing at about 3
TB/yr but is expected to accelerate substantially to 10-15 TB/yr due
largely to planetary missions.  There is also a legacy, non-digital,
component of the archive.

In a new approach to dissemination of data in the last few years,
distributed, active archives began to be established in the Planetary,
Astrophysics and Solar sub-disciplines.  They took over responsibility
for working with new projects to acquire and distribute data for
community researchers while NSSDC remained vital in acquiring and
disseminating space plasma physics data.  A few mission-specific
archives also were established in the space physics area. NSSDC
continues as the permanent archive for all space science data,
interacting with active archives per MOUs that clarify relationships and
responsibilities.  NSSDC also uniquely provides access to the taxpaying
public for certain data and information of interest to them.

Beginning in fiscal year 2003, the NSSDC budget was formally split to
provide separate funding and a more distinctive identity for the Space
Physics active-archive component known as the Space Physics Data
Facility (SPDF).  More recently, a Goddard reorganization assigned the
NSSDC and SPDF to different parent organizations.  It should be
recognized by readers of this document that many systems and activities
long identified with NSSDC, such as OMNI data and its OMNIWeb interface
and empirical modeling now fall into the SPDF domain and are not further
addressed herein.

As a general policy, NSSDC acquires data from active archives for long
term preservation and provides it back to them if requested. NSSDC
acquires data from projects and researchers, for long term preservation,
when those data are not of interest to other active archives, and it
makes such data available to researchers and the general public. This
also applies to much legacy data that pre-dated the formation of active
archives. In accordance with particular MOUs, NSSDC also handles data
dissemination requests that are beyond the mission of particular active
archives, such as responding to large data transfer requests and
supporting access by the general public. In a similar vein, NSSDC also
provides a remote backup capability for some active archives. NSSDC also
provides data to foreign requesters (scientific researchers, students,
and the general public) through the mechanism of the World Data Center
for Satellite Information and is the only NASA part of the WDC system
for the past 30+ years.

![](media/image1.pct){width="6.167361111111111in"
height="2.5659722222222223in"}

Figure 1: The internationally-standardized OAIS model for data centers
has been followed in the evolution of the NSSDC's architecture to ensure
the most effective use of data and resources.

NSSDC operates within the context of the conceptual framework
established by the internationally-standardized Reference Model for an
Open Archival Information System (OAIS) as illustrated in the functional
model overview shown in Figure 1. In this model, Data Providers provide
data and supporting information to the Ingest function of the archive.
They arrive, either conceptually or actually, via Submission Information
Packages (SIPs). The Ingest function turns these into one or more
Archival Information Packages (AIPs) for preservation within the
Archival Storage function.. The AIPs contain all of the science data and
contain, or points to, all of the supporting documentation, including
calibration information, that is required to allow a user to be able to
use the data independently of the archive and of the original producer
of the data. In some cases, the AIP might be generated directly by the
data provider, as is the case with the IMAGE spacecraft. This is the
preferred approach as it allows automation of the ingest process.

The ingest function also extracts, and/or generates, the descriptive
information that will be needed to support finding of the data by
external customers (NSSDC Users). It provides this to the Data
Management function. NSSDC users interact with the Access function,
which uses the descriptive information in Data Management, to find the
data of interest. Access translates this into requests to the Archival
Storage function for the AIPs needed, and then it processes the AIPs to
satisfy the user's request. The resulting data and documentation
returned to the NSSDC user is provided, either conceptually or actually,
in the form of Dissemination Information Packages (DIPs).

This is managed, on a day-to-day basis, by an Administrative function.
This function has many responsibilities, both internally and externally,
as described later. It is supported by the Preservation Planning
function with recommendation on standards and processes to be used, and
with information on the state of technology used by the NSSDC's data
providers and users.

The OAIS functional model provides a convenient way to discuss the
activities of an archive and is used to organize discussion of NSSDC's
activities and accomplishments in the following sections.

In addition to acquiring, preserving, and disseminating data, NSSDC is
playing a growing role in supporting Space Science's (NASA Headquarters
and community) needs for multi-archive guidance, standards, and
services. These are discussed in more detail in subsequent sections.

## Data ingest

Ingest, as shown in Figure 2, provides the services and functions to
accept data and documentation, often in the form of SIPs, from a variety
of data providers and to prepare the contents for storage and management
within the archive. Ingest functions include receiving SIPs to a staging
area, performing quality assurance on SIPs, generating (from SIPs and
from other resources) Descriptive Information for inclusion in the
archive's Data Management database, generating AIPs (if not provided
directly by the data provider), and coordinating updates to Archival
Storage and Data Management.

While receiving SIPs and generating AIPs for permanent preservation is
the primary ingest activity, there are two other types of ingest
activity that are currently in use to support NSSDC's data producers and
related user community. The first of these is referred to as a 'second
archive' service in which digital data are received on distributable
media that is also held by a primary archive. The data are not
transferred to AIPs, however the media are kept under environmental
control but no media refreshment is performed. NSSDC may disseminate
copies of the distributable media if authorized to do so by the primary
archive as per MOU. The second of these ingest activities is referred to
as a 'backup' service. Digital data are stored, typically offsite, to
support another archive's contingency plan per MOU. Backup data are not
disseminated by NSSDC. NSSDC may also receive analog data., but this has
been very rare in the last few years.

For all but the backup service, information about the data is inserted
into the Data Management database. These include such things as
identification of the spacecraft and experiment(s) that contributed to
the data; the identity of the PI and other investigators; brief
description of the data, written not to describe how to use/interpret
the data, but to allow prospective data users to determine if this data
will be of use for their purposes; time span covered by the data;
pertinent discipline of the data; reference to published journal
article(s) describing the instrument and its operation and calibrations,
etc.

The appropriate evaluation of a dataset and its associated supporting
information, and the generation of most of the related entries for Data
Management (i.e., NSSDC Information and Management System (NIMS)) ,
requires some specialized knowledge of the particular scientific
discipline involved. To this end, NSSDC maintains a small staff of
acquisition scientists, with different backgrounds and areas of
expertise, allowing them to handle datasets in any of the disciplines in
which NSSDC archives data.. They also interact knowledgeably with the
data providers and help data users locate and use data. The detailed
nature of these interactions and the particular tasks and efforts
required for ingest differ with the disciplines (Sun-Solar System
Connection, Solar System, and Exploration of the Universe).

![](media/image2.pct){width="5.917361111111111in"
height="2.270138888888889in"}

Figure 2: The OAIS model provides a clean separation between the ingest
activities and the long-term management of data and metadata, thereby
promoting independence and facilitating cost-effective evolution of
system components.

Over much of NSSDC's history, datasets were submitted using a wide
variety of media: computer tapes, punch cards, chart rolls, hard copy,
diskettes, photographic film, microfilm, and microfiche. Hard copy was
microfilmed and the microfilm archived. Currently, data typically arrive
via CD, DVD, DLT, and the Internet.

The NSSDC developed the Multifile Package Generator and Analyzer (MPGA)
software to create AIPs for the preservation of science files and
related metadata. The NSSDC uses MPGA during ingest to package SIPs into
AIPs. In cases where the data provider delivers SIPs in the form of
AIPs, the NSSDC uses MPGA to identify the AIPs and extract from them the
metadata required to support the ingest process. Both of these MPGA
processing scenarios are highly automated with MPGA being invoked by the
NSSDC\'s DIOnAS (Data Ingest and Online Access System).

Currently one data provider, the IMAGE project, is directly generating
AIPs for delivery to the NSSDC. These AIPs are delivered to DIOnAS for
archival storage. The NSSDC anticipates an expansion of this practice
and has produced an upgraded version of MPGA to supply to data providers
that will run under multiple operating systems. The NSSDC is currently
working with PDS to develop an electronic AIP delivery method.

In addition to the location of AIP generation, other ingest details may
also vary, depending on the science discipline involved, as described in
the following three sections.

###  Heliophysics

In the Heliophysics discipline, NSSDC's data providers are Projects,
Project Data Centers, Active Archive Centers, and legacy projects and
PIs. Past interactions with data providers were on a more informal ad
hoc basis, while the interactions with the newer projects are governed
by a PDMP or equivalent; for example, we provided help to the future
IBEX project in preparing their draft PDMP. A summary of missions and
interactions for SSSC is shown in Table 1. Note that we continue to
receive new data from the ISTP spacecraft and make it available thru the
CDAWeb interface, which offers display and download services. SSSC data
volumes ingested to the near-line permanent archive totaled \~764 GB in
2004, with \~678 GB being backup for RHESSI. These are only for data
archived in AIPs; in Space Physics there are other data archived but not
in AIP format. The corresponding volumes for 2003 were \~1004 GB and
\~856 GB. For the year 2005, these volumes are 1487 GB and 796 GB. The
total inputs to the archive, including both AIP and non-AIP data, were
2758 GB in 2003, 2181 GB in 2004, and 3803 GB in 2005. We receive data
as files transferred over the Internet, on CD-ROM, DVD, or DLT media.
The SSSC acquisition scientist reviews the available information and
creates (in Data Management, Fig. 1) the records describing the dataset
and additional necessary information, as detailed in section 1.2 above.
The acquisition scientist also reviews the documentation provided for
the dataset, to ensure that it is sufficient for a researcher
knowledgeable in the field, and may request additional information or
clarification of some elements of the provided documentation material.

Table 1: Through MOUs with active archives and through project PDMPs,
NSSDC acquires data for preservation that is often available elsewhere,
but for a great many legacy missions it is now the primary data source,
thus ensuring its usability into the future.

+------------------------+-----------------+--------------------------+
| **Data Provider**      | **Missions**    | **Comments**             |
+------------------------+-----------------+--------------------------+
| Science Data Centers   | ACE\*, FAST\*,  | Permanent Archive        |
| (SDC) &                | IMAGE\*,        |                          |
|                        |                 | SAMPEX is first Resident |
| Active Archives (AA)   | RHESSI\*,       | Archive                  |
|                        | SAMPEX\*,       |                          |
|                        |                 | Center                   |
|                        | TIMED\*         |                          |
+------------------------+-----------------+--------------------------+
| Space Physics Data     | Multiple ISTP   | Began ingest of data     |
|                        | era s/c in      | into archive.            |
| Facility               |                 |                          |
|                        | CDAWeb          | Ongoing receipt of Level |
|                        |                 | 0 from                   |
|                        |                 |                          |
|                        |                 | Polar-Wind-Geotail       |
|                        |                 | processing center        |
+------------------------+-----------------+--------------------------+
| Solar Data Analysis    | Yohkoh+         | Yohkoh data through SDAC |
| Center (SDAC)          |                 | and                      |
|                        |                 |                          |
|                        |                 | separate MOU             |
+------------------------+-----------------+--------------------------+
| Other                  | IBEX,THEMIS,AIM | Future missions. NSSDC   |
|                        |                 | consulted on             |
|                        |                 |                          |
|                        |                 | draft PDMP               |
+------------------------+-----------------+--------------------------+
| Older missions;        | Geotail,        | No Science Data Center   |
| ongoing data flow      | IMP8\*, ISEE\*, |                          |
|                        |                 |                          |
|                        | Polar, Ulysses, |                          |
|                        | Voyager\*\*,    |                          |
|                        |                 |                          |
|                        | Wind            |                          |
+------------------------+-----------------+--------------------------+
| Legacy                 | 684 missions    | Permanent archive.       |
+------------------------+-----------------+--------------------------+

\+ Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) exists. \*Project Data Management
Plan (PDMP) exists.

\*\* PDMP for planetary encounters exists.

### Planetary Science

In the Planetary Science discipline, NSSDC's current data providers are
the Planetary Data System (PDS) for whom NSSDC provides a second archive
service. The NSSDC also acts as the permanent archive for lunar and
planetary science data from older missions that are not otherwise
available. PDS negotiates PDMP\'s with the individual projects and the
interactions between PDS and NSSDC are specified in an MOU. Our clients
are scientists, educators, and the general public. The total volume of
planetary data received in 2005 is 338 GB. The corresponding volume for
2004 was 104 GB, and for 2003 was 723 GB. Table 2 provides a summary of
the solar system mission ingest activities and their status. The data
from PDS typically arrive on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, as specified in the MOU.
This is feasible for such missions as Mars Global Surveyor (1.2 TB total
data expected), the Mars Exploration Rovers (2.0 TB), Cassini (3.5 TB),
and Mars Odyssey (4.5 TB). However, large amounts of data expected from
the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (\~70 TB) and the Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter (400 TB) will make archive and delivery on DVD-ROMs impractical.
We are negotiating a process for electronic delivery with PDS. This will
involve PDS transmitting the data electronically as Archival Information
Packages (AIPs) with identifying wrappers. The details of this are still
being worked out. AIP software created at NSSDC has been sent to PDS for
testing and evaluation. We are also in the process of revising the MOU
between NSSDC and PDS to encompass electronic delivery.

The data and metadata received at NSSDC has been inspected and validated
by PDS. The planetary acquisition scientist reviews the information
provided and creates dataset records in Data Management (Figure 1). The
dataset record comprises the metadata necessary to identify, describe,
and evaluate these data. The dataset record and all associated
information such as descriptions of the instrument and spacecraft
mission created by the acquisition scientist are available online
through the Access function. Where possible, this metadata includes a
network link which points to online data, typically housed on a PDS
server.

Table 2: Through a unique MOU with PDS, NSSDC provides a long-term
preservation function for planetary mission data, supports access by the
general public, and is also the primary archive for many legacy
planetary/lunar mission datasets not under PDS management.

  ------------- ----------------------- ----------------------------------
  **Data        **Missions**            **Comments**
  Provider**                            

  Planetary     Permanent Archive: 16   For example: NEAR, Magellan,
  Data System   missions                Viking, Voyager
  (PDS)+                                

                Mars Global Surveyor    Continuing mission, data flow
                                        established

                Cassini-Huygens, MER    Continuing mission, PDMP reviewed

                Stardust, Deep Impact   Small data volume expected

                Mars 2001 Odyssey       Radio Science level 0 data
                                        received, other pending

                Hayabusa, Selene,       Current and future JAXA missions
                Lunar-A                 

                SMART-1, Mars Express,  Current and future ESA missions
                Rosetta, Venus Express  

                MESSENGER               Mercury orbiter, expect moderate
                                        data volume

                Mars Reconnaissance     Future missions, large data
                Orbiter, Lunar          volume, expect electronic delivery
                Reconnaissance Orbiter  via PDS

                New Horizons, Phoenix   Future missions, discussions about
                                        data volume

  Legacy        \>95 missions           For example, Apollo ALSEP and
                                        orbital data being restored as
                                        NSSDC's "Lunar Data Project"
  ------------- ----------------------- ----------------------------------

\+ MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) exists.

### Astrophysical Science

In the Astrophysical Science discipline, NSSDC receives and ingests
astrophysics data primarily from NASA's distributed network of
astrophysics "active archives." The activities of these SARCs (Science
Archive Research Centers) are coordinated by the Astrophysics Data
Centers Executive Council (ADEC), of which NSSDC is a member. NSSDC
ingests astrophysics data initially as backup copies for the active
archives, and later as permanently archived stable datasets upon
agreement with the active archives. A stable dataset is one for which
the mission has ended and no further reprocessing will take place. The
separate roles and responsibilities of the NSSDC and the active archives
are established and documented through MOUs and PDMPs. PDMPs are
typically established between missions and the active archives, though
occasionally a PDMP has signatory approval by the NSSDC. PDMPs are used
to establish data formats, volumes, expected documentation, and delivery
schedules.

Table 3 summarizes the various data provider categories, including the
SARCs: high-energy astrophysics data are ingested from the HEASARC;
UV-Optical data are ingested from MAST; infrared data are ingested from
IRSA; and long-wavelength (microwave and sub-mm) data are ingested from
the Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis (LAMBDA).
Table 3 distinguishes SARC-related data transfers from three other
categories of data provider: large missions (e.g., HST, Spitzer Space
Telescope); active missions that have a PDMP agreement directly with
NSSDC (e.g., GPB); and NASA's legacy astrophysics mission datasets
(e.g., IRAS, COBE, UHURU).

NSSDC has received approximately 4.75 TB of new astrophysics data in
2005, of which 3.9 TB came from the HEASARC. For comparison, NSSDC
received 2.3 TB of new astrophysics data in 2002. These data come to
NSSDC via a combination of network transfers and hard media. The modes
of data delivery are also varied. For example, the full GPB mission data
archive is to be delivered all at once as an Oracle database. In
contrast to this, the FUSE data are shipped to NSSDC on DVDs throughout
the year on a continuing basis. Most data products are delivered and
ingested in astronomical standard FITS format. In some cases, such as
GPB, the project team will deliver the entire mission document set and
will deliver the mission observation attribute database exported in CDF
format. This is a common practice --for a mission to convert their
project-specific data formats into a standard format prior to delivery
to the NSSDC.

An astrophysics acquisition scientist at NSSDC provides the interface to
the active archives and astrophysics missions, while the routine
acceptance, logging, and ingest of data and shipment manifests are
handled by NSSDC ingest operations staff. The acquisition scientist
reviews available information and creates dataset records, describing
the dataset and additional necessary information. The acquisition
scientist is the principal reviewer of mission documentation for
accuracy and adequacy as the sole future means by which the mission
dataset can be independently and correctly used by non-mission
scientists.

Table 3: Through MOUs with the SARCs, NSSDC typically provides primarily
a backup function, however there are a number of new and legacy missions
for which NSSDC is the primary archive.

+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| **Data Provider** | **Missions**   | **Comments**                   |
+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| Science Archive   | 9 active       | Permanent Archive for 20       |
| Research          | missions       | completed missions             |
|                   | across         |                                |
| Center (SARC) and |                | across four entities. Backup   |
| Science           | HEASARC+,      | archive for SARCs              |
|                   | MAST+,         |                                |
| Center (SC)       |                | per MOU. Data ingest ongoing,  |
|                   | LAMBDA+, IRSA, | e.g., GALEX.                   |
|                   | MSC            |                                |
+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| Other             | 10 missions    | Future archive for Swift,      |
|                   |                | Spitzer, JPL Navigator         |
+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| Other             | Gravity        | Future permanent archive per   |
|                   | Probe-B        | PDMP, draft MOU                |
|                   | (GPB)\*        |                                |
+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| Legacy            | 70 missions.   | Permanent archive. For         |
|                   |                | example, Uhuru                 |
+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+

+MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) exists. \*PDMP (Project Data
Management Plan) exists.

## Administration

At NSSDC, we divide the administrative functions into externally and
internally focused activities .

### External Administration

External administration includes developing and evolving the current
acquisition policy for NSSDC as a facilitator for data ingest from
discipline-specific active archives, missions, and PIs. In this role,
NSSDC assesses the needs of these groups to define the services that
NSSDC can provide as the permanent archive for all NASA space science
data. In addition to existing MOUs with the PDS and HEASARC, NSSDC has
recently concluded MOUs with two other astrophysics groups: the
Multi-mission Archive at Space Telescope (MAST), and the Legacy Archive
for Microwave Background Data Analysis (LAMBDA). We continue to
negotiate an MOU with the Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). In the space
physics discipline, NSSDC is usually identified in each mission's
Project Data Management Plan as the final archive and agreements are
reached either with the individual missions or the active archives such
as Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) and Solar Data Archive Center
(SDAC). In certain cases when a mission does not work directly through
an active archive (e.g., Gravity Probe-B) a separate agreement may also
be sought to define the roles and responsibilities. For new sample
return missions, NSSDC is working with PDS to define interactions with
the Astromaterial Curation Facility (ACF) at the Johnson Space Center
(JSC) for missions such as Genesis, Stardust and Hayabusa. NSSDC also
ingests a limited amount of data from foreign sources; for example,
Cluster and Interball data.

To support the submissions of, and access to, data, NSSDC maintains web
pages that locate data, provide fact sheets, identify white papers
(e.g., Data Retention Policy
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nssdc/data_retention.html), and general
information on the archive process and widely used formats. Since a
large fraction of the NSSDC holdings are analog or legacy data archived
before the institution of the active archives, customers include active
archives, researchers, educators, and the public. As the permanent
archive for NASA, NSSDC also functions as the World Data Center for
Satellite Information (WDC SI), providing email announcements of
satellite launches around the world, posting a monthly SpaceWarn
bulletin on the WDC SI website, and providing trajectory information.
Through the WDC, we also provide data to foreign requesters. enabling
worldwide data access.

On behalf of COSPAR (Committee On SPace Research), NSSDC is privileged
to receive notices of spacecraft launches and it assigns and
disseminates unique international satellite designators for all
spacecraft that attain orbit . NSSDC generates and maintains brief
descriptions and limited other information about those spacecraft. These
brief descriptions and other information are also maintained for
scientific experiments on board satellites, and for their resulting
datasets that are archived at NSSDC (and for a limited number of
datasets available elsewhere that are of interest to space scientists).

NSSDC generates a bi-monthly report for NASA HQ to identify the progress
of archiving for the various NASA missions and active archives. In
addition, interactions include periodic updates on the budget and
presentation to the SSSCDCWG advisory group; the latter has resulted in
a white paper (see
<http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nssdc/RAXWhite_Paperu.doc>) on how to form
Resident Archives at a mission's end to facilitate data being submitted
to the permanent archive. NSSDC is tasked with responding to special
projects for headquarters. An example of one such project is the
development of a self-registry web site to track all NASA space science
data.

NSSDC monitors customer satisfaction under the administration function
through review of comments and direct interactions with active archives.

### Internal Administration

NSSDC also performs an internal administration function. One example is
to track the levels of service provided to data submitters and identify
whether the accompanying documentation makes the data independently
useable, NSSDC interacts with the active archives to plan infrastructure
upgrades so as to handle new and voluminous data products. This planning
is necessary to schedule tasks efficiently for the staff and allow for
restoration of interesting or useful data products. An example is the
restoration of Apollo *in situ* data by NSSDC, using separate funding,
that will be ingested into the PDS in support of the lunar exploration
initiative. This internal administration function forecasts the
permanent archive needs to make effective use of market driven changes
in technology and software for data storage. An ongoing task is to
modernize the hardware/software system that we monitor monthly to look
for cost effective approaches and changes.

Administration also oversees migrations. Figure 3 shows data migration
for earlier data products (including digitizing relevant material) into
media-independent forms for archival storage. NSSDC extracts files and
related attributes from legacy magnetic tapes and the tape inventory
database, respectively, and these are then provided to the Ingest
function staging area. Ingest creates multifile AIPs on hard disk for
pickup by the Archival Storage function. Updates to support discovery of
the AIPs are sent to the database in Data Management. We control the
entire migration process by a temporary database to ensure quality
control. As the process continues, AIPs are stored both on robotic SDLT
media and on hard disk. In some cases, unique or high demand data may be
extracted from the AIPs and made electronically accessible via an FTP
server under the Access function.

![](media/image3.pct){width="5.91875in" height="2.9680555555555554in"}

Figure 3: Data migration, controlled by administration, ensures that
data remain available into the future.

This process includes capturing provenance information and checking
documentation to make the data more reliably and independently useable.
Where practical, some updates to a more accessible format will be made.
NSSDC has migrated a selection of 200 tapes (both 9 track and 3480
cartridges) to initiate and validate the process. The effort, referred
to as the 'legacy tape migration', is considered a background task that
will take several years to complete. At that time, it will be necessary
to start the refreshing of the current SDLT media on the planned 6-year
life cycle.

## Archival storage

NSSDC is responsible for the long term archiving and preservation of
space science data and maintains a multidisciplinary archive
encompassing nearly five decades of space science digital data. These
data include over 2,300 distinct digital datasets in excess of 36
Terabytes preserved on a variety of magnetic and optical media. As of
January 2006 NSSDC held approximately 39,000 magnetic tape volumes (not
counting copies) and 27,000 optical disk volumes. Also maintained by
NSSDC is over 2000 analog datasets including over 700,000 still
photographs, over 150,000 feet of motion picture film, and an extensive
set of microfilm and microfiche. However virtually all new data are
received in digital form.

In addition to holding data for which NSSDC has the primary preservation
responsibility, NSSDC also provides "second archive" and "backup"
services for data held by other archives as noted earlier. Table 4
illustrates the five levels of archive service provided by NSSDC.

Table 4: NSSDC provides a range of archival services as needed to meet
the evolving needs of the larger Space Science data management and
distribution environment

  ------------------ ----------------------------------------------------
  **NSSDC Archival   
  Storage Service**  

  **Permanent        Preservation of digital data in Archival Information
  Archive: AIPs**    Packages delivered by a data producer or created at
                     NSSDC. AIPs are re-written to new media within six
                     years. Data is disseminated by NSSDC if not
                     available through an active archive or per MOU.

  **Permanent        Preservation of non-packaged data on various media
  Archive: non-AIP   types. Data will eventually be migrated from legacy
  digital data**     media to AIPs. Data is disseminated by NSSDC if not
                     available through an active archive or per MOU.

  **Second Archive** Storage of digital data on distributable media that
                     is also held by another archive. No media
                     refreshment is performed. NSSDC may disseminate the
                     data if authorized to do so by the primary archive
                     as per MOU.

  **Backup**         Storage of digital data to support another archive's
                     contingency plan per MOU. Data will not be
                     disseminated by NSSDC.

  **Analog           Preservation of analog data on a variety of media
  Archive:**         with selected refreshment and selected digitization.
                     Selected retention of original analog data after
                     digitization. Data are copied and disseminated by
                     NSSDC.
  ------------------ ----------------------------------------------------

The 'permanent archive: AIP' service is the primary focus for new
digital data arriving at NSSDC. The 'permanent archive: non-AIP' service
reflects the historical buildup of data on a variety of media. These
data will eventually be put into AIPs as well. The 'second archive'
service reflects historical agreements for distributing copies of media.
In the future, NSSDC will attempt to negotiate transfers of this
information to AIPs in order to improve preservation efficiency. Some
external archives have asked NSSDC to maintain backup copies of their
archival storage, so a 'backup' service has been defined. As there is a
substantial amount of analog data in the archive, much of it unique,
NSSDC maintains an 'analog' service as well.

The AIP is an information package containing data and documentation
needed to make the resulting information content understandable over a
long-term period. In 2000, NSSDC adopted the approach of preserving data
in AIPs as well as other concepts from the CCSDS/ISO "Reference Model
for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS)". Use of the AIP to
archive data dissociates digital data content from specific media
volumes and provides increased efficiency when performing the digital
data migrations that are required to preserve data into the indefinite
future.

Historically, the media used to transfer digital data to NSSDC usually
served as NSSDC's storage media with a copy of each media volume being
stored in an off-site location. NSSDC's digital data holdings have been
managed as a collection of digital media volumes. The Java Inventory
(JIN), an application running within the NSSDC Information Management
System (NIMS) is dedicated to this task. JIN is a recently released
product, replacing an older less capable inventory system. Future
releases of JIN will provide for the management of additional media. The
release of JIN version 1.1 is expected later in this year, providing
support for an improved process for releasing media and upgraded
reports. Work on JIN upgrades to support the photoproducts inventory
will commence this year with an expected deployment in 2007.

At this time, only those data delivered electronically to NSSDC are
permanently archived in AIPs. Data delivered on transfer media (second
archive) are still archived on media volumes in the traditional manner.
Ultimately, all NSSDC permanently archived digital data will be migrated
to AIPs.

To create and manage AIPs, NSSDC developed the Data Ingest and Online
Access System (DIOnAS), deployed in the summer of 2000. DIOnAS generates
AIPs at NSSDC or accepts pre-generated AIPs (e.g., from AIPs created by
a data provider external to NSSDC), writes AIPs to permanent storage
media, and can populate an FTP data distribution site with data
extracted from AIPs. Thus, DIOnAS is a system whose role extends into
multiple archive functions : Ingest, Archival Storage, and Access. The
media types currently used for permanent storage of AIPs are DLT type IV
cartridges (35 GB capacity) and SuperDLT type II (300 GB capacity).
DIOnAS consists of Java software and a database containing ingest
processing information and archive inventory information. The Multifile
Packager and Analyzer utility (MPGA) can be called by DIOnAS to create
AIPs and extract information from AIPs. Cyclic redundancy checksums
(CRCs) are used extensively to safeguard against data corruption while
creating, ingesting, and preserving AIPs. Validated copies of every AIP
are written on multiple media in distributed locations. NSSDC policy
calls for a six year refreshment interval for media containing AIPs.

The first version of the new NSSDC AIP Storage System (NASS) was
released in 2005. NASS is a Java application and a database for managing
the storage of AIPs at NSSDC. NASS is dedicated to the Archival Storage
function, with no responsibility for Ingest or Access. The NASS
architecture is not media specific any digital media may be used for AIP
storage.. NASS development activities in 2006 are: queued media read and
write requests providing concurrent processing capability, a graphical
user interface for NSSDC staff to facilitate access to existing NASS
management functions.

NSSDC currently extracts and stores as text objects the preservation
description information from all ingested AIPs. This is done to
facilitate internal analysis of the AIP holdings. A conversion of the
database holding the AIP preservation description to XML is planned for
this year.

Provenance information for NSSDC data is captured in multiple locations
and is not easily accessed by the user community. NSSDC plans to develop
a system for capture and preservation of provenance information, thus
making the data more usable to future researchers. Development of an
initial provenance information management system that addresses the
legacy tape data migration is planned for this year.

NSSDC has multiple independently administered collections of digital
documents. To provide a more efficient control mechanism and supply a
[uniform access method]{.underline} to the user community the NSSDC will
develop an integrated document management system. Development of the
initial system will start in summer of 2006 with an initial deployment
late in the year or early in 2007.

## Data management

The ability to search for NSSDC\'s data holdings based on spacecraft
name and discipline has been in place since the mid-1980s, with the
current web-accessible incarnation being available since the mid-1990s.
This is supported by the metadata maintained in a database under the
Data Management function. This function also provides maintenance and
upgrades to existing database related software and works to identify
needed software to meet new operational requirements. This includes
running specialized reports based on staff and external requests.

The database infrastructure is referred to as the NSSDC Information
Management System (NIMS). NIMS contains information primarily of use for
describing and searching for data holdings. In addition, NIMS also has
the capability of handling many administrative functions that pertain to
the tracking of archiving status of various flight projects.

A core piece of NIMS is the information about the datasets archived at
the NSSDC. This partition describes the data so that interested parties
can determine what would be of most use to their particular needs.
Ancillary information about the data, including descriptions of the
experiment(s) that generated the data and the spacecraft on which the
experiment(s) flew, are also available. Other ancillary information in
the database is the publications generated from or describing additional
details about the datasets, experiments, and spacecraft. These parts of
NIMS are primarily for use as discriminators and for searching.

Other partitions in NIMS (as well as some parts in the core set of
partitions mentioned above) are used primarily for administrative
purposes. This includes (for example) information on the number of
requests for a given dataset, information about requestors, total volume
of data in a dataset, etc.

The primary means by which information is entered into the NIMS database
is via a pair of Java-based interfaces: JEDS (which is used to enter
information about spacecraft, experiments, datasets, and publications)
and JRAND (which is used to track information about people, both
requestors and those involved with flight projects and/or datasets, and
about requests for data). Access to these interfaces is on a named-user
basis and is only provided to those within the GSFC computing
environment.

The NIMS database is moderately sized in terms of the number of records
it holds, roughly 6,000 spacecraft and about 5,000 each of experiments
and datasets with about ten times that of publications and people. Some
parts of the database are quite simple in nature, with people
information spanning only five tables and a few dozen fields, while
others are very complex. Spacecraft information is among the most
complex in the database, comprised of 24 main tables with roughly 50
supporting (validation) tables and dozens of accompanying triggers and
stored procedures to ensure consistent and reliable data. This
difference in complexity is further reflected by the interfaces, with
JRAND comprising about 13,000 lines of code while JEDS comprises about
40,000.

The primary means of external access to the NIMS information is the
NSSDC Master Catalog (NMC) software. This activity more correctly falls
under the Access function and will be discussed in the next section.

## Access (Distribution of data)

The Access function serves to identify and provide all of NSSDC\'s users
with the data for which they are searching, as shown in general in
Figure 4. The Access function depends on input from the Data Management
and Archival Storage functions for additional support needed to fulfill
the wide range of requests made to the data center. Note our primary
mission is to be the Permanent, not an Active, Archive, with emphasis on
preservation more than access, but access remains an important function.
For many datasets NSSDC is the unique holder and for many more NSSDC
provides distribution service along with the mission archive.

NSSDC users, who cover the full spectrum from scientific researchers to
the general public, both domestic and international, generally obtain
access to data through a collection of web pages and/or web-enabled
interfaces maintained by NSSDC staff. These access information about
data holdings and allow direct access to selected datasets on-line.
Nearly 1 TB of the most requested datasets are maintained on-line at
<ftp://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/>. Most datasets are not directly
accessible via the internet and options are provided that allow
interested parties to request further information through the NSSDC
Request Office. Other users come to NSSDC through personal contracts,
such as acquisition scientists, who also provide access support.

![](media/image4.pct){width="6.038888888888889in"
height="2.7416666666666667in"}

Figure 4: NSSDC users access data efficiently and cost-effectively since
the function is modeled after OAIS and is cleanly separated from the
long-term management of data and metadata.

Access to the information about NSSDC\'s data holdings is through the
NSSDC Master Catalog (NMC), the web interface to the NIMS database,
which can be linked to from the NSSDC homepage. It consists of an
extensive set of Java code (primarily servlets) that queries the
database in various ways to produce dynamically generated web pages. The
database is organized to link data to an experiment and experiments to a
spacecraft, and this is reflected in the Master Catalog software. Users
can search though the NSSDC Master Catalog and locate data of interest,
in many cases finding links to on-line sources of data holdings, both at
NSSDC and elsewhere. This linking ability is supported mainly for
highly-sought-after datasets currently, but the number of datasets that
are accessible in this manner has continued to grow at a steady pace.
The on-line query form allows users to query for spacecraft which meet
several criteria (name, discipline, and/or launch date). From a
spacecraft one can explore information about its experiments and further
to the datasets generated, either by spacecraft or by experiment (as
shown in Fig 4). Approximately 5,063 datasets are catalogs in the NMC,
4400 of these datasets are archived at NSSDC.

Two other available, although less publicized, query interfaces can also
be accessed on the NSSDC public web site. Both can be reached via the
URL http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/. One allows a query of the
publication information tracked in NIMS (from which one can then go
further into related spacecraft, experiment, dataset information). The
other generates a listing based on data that have recently arrived at
NSSDC within a specified time span.

The total number of direct requests to NSSDC has evolved as expected in
recent years with the growth of the internet. The percentage of core
users from universities or government labs remains about 25%, which is
mirrored in the FTP usage statistics. Scientific data requests have been
less frequent as active NASA datasets are being offered by research
teams directly from their own web servers and often-requested datasets
are posted on the NSSDC anonymous FTP site or on other NASA archive
sites. In many cases the scientific request directed to NSSDC is for
unique data archived before the advent of the active archives. Many
general public requests for photos and videos have been replaced with
web views and downloads. When requests are answered with hard copy or
media, then a small handling fee may be charged to recoup the
duplication costs.

For our scientific colleagues searching for space science data that are
not easily accessed on-line, the Request Office coordinates inquiries
with our in-house scientists to identify desired data, locate it and/or
its associated metadata, discuss options for its distribution, and
disseminate the data. The preferred dissemination method for digital
data is FTP, but large datasets may be provided on CDs or DVDs. Special
requests for data on microfiche, microfilm or paper printout are
accommodated on a case by case basis. Photos are provided digitally via
FTP or as prints or negatives. Documents are generally provided as
digital or paper copies.

NSSDC also receives and answers requests from the general public. These
requests are mostly for NASA photographs, videos or posters, such as the
wildly popular Multi-wavelength View of the Milky Way. The experienced
staff in the NSSDC Request Office are excellent at discerning the
requester's requirements, e.g. which set of lunar photographs best show
an Apollo landing site. The general users include commercial entities
(e.g. calendar makers, book illustrators) and persons of all ages
looking for their general interest. Requested videos, CDs, DVDs, and
posters are shipped for a fee which may be waived by the Head of NSSDC.

Careful records are kept on electronic accesses, searches and downloads,
as well as detailed logs of requests on physical media. These are
reviewed periodically to see where we can improve services, e.g.
identify newly popular datasets which will be posted on our ftp site for
easier access.

One of the lesser known, continuing activities of NSSDC is to serve as
the World Data Center (WDC) for Satellite Information. The WDC captures
and disseminates information about spacecraft launches and other
information. It also serves as a conduit fro request for NSSDC data from
the international community.

The core activities for access to NSSDC's holdings, as described so far
in this section, are planned to continue into the foreseeable future.
Requests for individual datasets will wax and wane, but researchers and
general users will always seek NASA data. We continue to refine and
improve our Access Services as much as resources will allow. Currently
we have begun or planned several improvements.

NSSDC is increasing its web services. Those that support SPASE, the
international effort to define a dictionary for Space Physics terms as
the basis for sharing data among Space Physics data centers, will be
developed and posted this year. SPASE v 1.0.1 has just been posted, so
the service associated with it will likely grow in coming years (see
sec. 1.7 Preservation Planning).

Another web-related project in planning is to organize and make
available via a web interface the NSSDC digital documents. Many
supporting documents for datasets are received electronically, while
others have been digitized internally. The digital documents will
provide additional information about NSSDC datasets to aid our users in
their selection and use of various datasets.

Two other development projects in progress will create a much more
robust basis for the NSSDC archives and for future development of its
systems. The first is to create an Access/Storage interface, a link
between the NIMS database of supporting information and the DIOnAS
database tracking data stored as AIPs. This link should be completed
later this calendar year. The second is to begin the conversion of the
NSSDC Master Catalog to web services. Rather than the current query
system described above, where the database is queried and then data
retrieved from the designated directories, the documents themselves
would become database entries and thus retrieved directly via the query.

The largest improvement for data center access is becoming part of a
Virtual Observatory, a specialized form of data mining across data
centers in the same disciplines. Various Virtual Observatory (VO)
projects exist or are planned for astronomy (NVO), planetary (IPDA),
solar physics, and various space physics subdisciplines (VxO). The VOs
are currently developing standard protocols for registering data,
discovering data, and accessing data. These protocols include
data/metadata standards, XML standards, and OAI standards. Because these
VO projects are implementing such protocols, standards, tools, and
services in a manner that allows cost-effective adoption by many other
data centers, the NSSDC plans to adopt these same protocols in its
interfaces. These interfaces will follow the Web Services paradigm in
which machine-to-machine interaction occurs with minimal human
intervention. Thereby, data available on-line are delivered to analysis
and visualization packages semi-autonomously. Data archived near line
will return a message that they are available via individual request. As
a first step in our participation, we will provide a registry of NSSDC
data products and services, and we will follow the emerging XML-based VO
protocols for metadata, semantic markup, and database access. *As NASA's
Permanent Archive, NSSDC is the unique holder of many datasets, from
early balloon flights to the soon-to-arrive Gravity Probe-B, so has a
significant contribution to make.* The value of the national and
international VO projects is primarily in shared development and rapid
low-cost buy-in from any data provider. We will leverage those
developments and participate in this new virtual environment of seamless
access to distributed data.

## Preservation planning

The purpose of Preservation Planning is to provide advice to the NSSDC
Administration regarding preservation strategies, design of packaging
templates, and monitoring of technology as it affects archive services
for NSSDC users and data providers. This function also supports NSSDC's
role in providing advice to, and promoting synergism among, Space
Science's active archives. An overview of the Preservation Planning
function at NSSDC is given in Figure 5.

![](media/image5.pct){width="5.935416666666667in"
height="2.798611111111111in"}

Figure 5: By carefully monitoring user requirements and technology
capabilities, preservation planning allows maximal efficiency of the
entire archives.

"Develop Preservation Strategies and Standards" identifies and evolves
strategies and related standards that facilitate the long-term
preservation of the scientific information. To facilitate a community
focus for standards, NSSDC created a virtual organization, the
NASA/Science Office of Standards and Technology (NOST). NSSDC/NOST is
engaged in several related activities internal and external to the
organization. It is important for a long term archive to stay abreast of
the best thinking on preservation strategies for science data. This is
facilitated by participation in relevant standards development
activities that leverage the expertise of space and non-space
organizations participating in the Consultative Committee for Space Data
Systems. NSSDC/NOST leads the working group that developed the CCSDS/ISO
"Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS)." It has
become the fundamental framework for communicating about digital archive
functions including migration and interactions with other archives and
the modeling of information for long term understanding. This framework,
adopted by all types of archives all over the world, is instrumental in
helping NSSDC evolve its systems to improve both efficiency and
effectiveness. This includes the Archival Information Package (AIP)
approach that supports more automation on ingest and low-cost archival
storage and migrations. Most NSSDC/NOST participation in CCSDS has been
funded externally which has greatly leveraged our contribution.

A recently completed standards activity that is beginning to influence
NSSDC approaches to ingest and preservation is the CCSDS
"Producer-Archive Interface Methodology Abstract Standard." It provides
a checklist of activities and approaches to negotiating data submission
from data providers and will help NSSDC evolve guidelines for data
submission. NSSDC is also an invited participant in the international
Archive Certification Task Force that has recently released a draft
certification checklist for public review.

NSSDC is leading and supporting an international effort, called "SPASE",
to create a common Space Physics data model. It will facilitate access
to distributed data services under the Virtual Observatory (VO)
concepts. Although some external funding supports this effort, NSSDC has
also contributed its resources. A first version of the data model has
been released and is undergoing public comment and testing.

NSSDC will be developing draft guidelines in FY 06 for the Heliophysics
discipline addressing documentation needs for datasets to be submitted
to the NSSDC.

"Develop Packaging Designs and Migration Plans" evolves internal data
structuring approaches and proposes plans for accomplishing specific
data migration efforts. The Archival Information Package (AIP) concept
has been adopted to isolate data files from dependencies on underlying
media types and the VAX/VMS file system, and it provides pointers to
associated descriptive information so data bits may be understood.
Recent accomplishments include development of an AIP (version 3) that
can hold multiple files and their related metadata. This is necessary to
cost-effectively capture legacy data from 9-track and 3480 magnetic
tape. This function has also been leading a working group that is
developing a detailed design for the migration of this data that is well
documented not only to ensure consistent operations but to provide the
provenance (processing history) information that will be needed in the
future. Our experience over 40 years greatly attests to the need to
capture processing history to address future use and migration issues.

Updates to the AIP functionality, based on experience with the legacy
tape migration and the interactions with the PDS, will be proposed later
in FY 06. A prototype for permanent identifier functionality for
internal NSSDC document management will be developed in FY 06 to improve
our ability to manage our electronic documentation without breaking
links and spending extra resources to fix links.

We will design and prototype an Acquisition Scientist ingest support
interface to facilitate more automated ingest of dataset documentation,
population of NSSDC's management system, and better quality control with
less human resource expenditure.

"Monitor Technology and Designated Community" is used to stay abreast of
changes in technology impacting NSSDC internal systems and NSSDC's
producer and user communities. NSSDC is now recognized world-wide for
its expertise in digital preservation. We accomplished this through
participation and liaison with various standards groups, participation
in selected conferences and workshops, and serving on review committees.
These activities provide a broad view that spans multiple agencies
(including non-Space agencies) and technologies. Examples include:
participation in the international Consultative Committee for Space Data
Systems, RLG/NARA Archive Certification Task Force, US CODATA/ICSTI
Working Group on Permanent Access to Scientific Data and Information, UK
Digital Curation Centre (DCC), NASA workshops on VO concepts,
international SPASE working group, and liaisons with NCITS L8 working
group, INTERPARES working group, GSFC Ontology Working Group, NASA XML
Working Group, and the GSFC Library Metadata Review Group. We are also
co-sponsoring the GSFC/IEEE conference on mass storage and archiving. We
follow discussions within the PDS on standards and approaches, are a
member of the Astrophysics ADEC consortium, and have close ties with the
SPDF. Recent accomplishments include presentation of a paper at the
PV-2005 conference on lessons learned from migrations in the context of
the OAIS reference model, participation on an NSF review committee
addressing digital preservation, and participation on the DCC review
panel addressing a "Manual for Digital Curation." NSSDC is developing
Web pages to facilitate synergism and good preservation practices among
the Space Science archives. It makes current and evolving standards and
guidelines, including relevant international material, readily visible,
and it provides a view of standards that have been adopted by the major
Space Science disciplines.

## NSSDC Education and Public Outreach

The NSSDC continues to serve not just the science research community,
but also the general public which is well aware of the valuable database
of information on satellites, instruments, and general space science
datasets and services. Just recently the NSSDC web server passed the 1
billion accesses mark with the statistics that have been kept since
1996. This makes it one of the ten most popular sites within NASA. The
main customers of NSSDC are researchers, but the general public forms a
large fraction of those accessing the web sites as well and
education-related activities address this **customer focus**. The NSSDC
information sites serve both the formal education community (students
gaining knowledge for classroom purposes) and the informal education
individuals and groups (learning taking place outside of the classroom).
This follows the recommendation from the Sun-Solar System Connection
Roadmap that says: "NASA Education and Public Outreach should take
advantage of the existing connection and overlap between the formal and
informal education arenas." Thus, the site continues to provide
information for those interested in space data, possibly inspiring their
involvement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematical (STEM)
subjects.

As many NASA astronauts, scientists, and other workers will tell you, it
is often the first encounter with pictures of other worlds or the
exposure to results from space exploration experiments that stimulates
the interest to go deeper into this subject area and perhaps follow it
as a career. To quote from NASA's Strategic Objective for Education and
Public Outreach, "Use NASA missions and other activities to inspire and
motivate the nations' students and teachers, to engage and educate the
public, and to advance the scientific and technological capabilities of
the nation." In this case we use the NASA mission data for this purpose.
Also, NSSDC staff lead the Radio JOVE educational radio astronomy
project (described below) which is being adapted for use by the visually
impaired, an underrepresented group needed to increase **diversity** in
STEM careers. These activities are what is needed to fill the
"**pipeline**" with high-quality students who will take up STEM
professions and possibly join NASA in the future.

The NSSDC is a prime location for having educational information
available since ready access to a wide variety of research data can be
inexpensively made available to the public as well. This **leveraging**
of funding is most efficiently done within the NSSDC. This is
essentially a **partnership** between NSSDC and the education community.

The value of the educational activities done at NSSDC are indirectly
**evaluated** by the popularity of the associated web pages. As
indicated by the statistics above, the existing sites are apparently
considered to be of value. Periodically we propose to add online surveys
of NSSDC users to directly query their reaction to web pages of interest
and then update the pages accordingl

### NSSDC Educational Web Pages

The NSSDC photo archive is a very popular service for the general
public. The overall NSSDC analog photo archive had been prioritized for
digitization. When there is time available for the photo archivist, Mr.
Robert Tice, or for summer students, additional digitization of the
archive has been done according to the prioritization and according to
indications of recent public interest based on requests.

The NSSDC continues to digitize and send out copies of images from the
analog photo archive upon request from researchers and for small
requests from the general public. This leads to a gradually increasing
set of digital imagery that will be available to the public on the
educational web pages. Thus, the archive will automatically include
those images most requested and of greatest interest to the public.

The NSSDC education web pages point to many other pages and web sites of
interest. Some of the pages maintained by Mr. Nathan James, the NSSDC
webmaster, have proven to be of particular interest to the public are
the general public page
(<http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nssdc/gen_public.html>) and the links from
that page to imagery, especially planetary imagery. There are also
special pages devoted to specific topics of interest that are often
being sought by general public users, such as information about the
Apollo project. NSSDC also hosts a number of educational activity sites
on its computer infrastructure. All of the educational activities will
be advertised through notices on the main NSSDC pages and on the NSSDC
education home page and NSSDC advertising brochures will be added to the
offline data orders.

### Radio JOVE Project

The Radio JOVE Project is a hands-on educational program aimed at high
school level students, but suitable for middle schools, colleges or any
other interested groups or individuals. The groups or individuals build
a radio telescope from an inexpensive kit and use it to observe the Sun,
Jupiter, our galaxy, and Earth-based radio emissions. They also learn
about space physics of solar system magnetospheres, the solar wind, and
solar storms. Students can also participate by monitoring remote radio
telescopes through the internet. The project's leader, Dr. James Thieman
is an NSSDC senior scientist with a Ph.D. in planetary radio astronomy.
Radio JOVE has been selling/distributing radio astronomy kits for eight
years at a rate of more than 100 per year on a non-profit basis around
the world.  The project emphasizes the inspirational approach of
hands-on inquiry-based learning of astronomy and, more generally, the
scientific method.  The archive of data records contributed by amateur
radio astronomy observers now has several thousand records and this
archive is maintained at the NSSDC.  Many NASA Explorer schools have
been trained to use the equipment as part of the Student Observation
Network (SON) module called \"Tracking a Solar Storm\".  Radio JOVE has
received funding to help broaden the diversity of students doing
astronomy by adapting the project for use by blind and otherwise
disabled people. 

A new capability has recently been added to Radio JOVE with the
development of multi-frequency spectrograph monitoring software that can
be freely downloaded and used by observers to monitor two professional
radio spectrographs located in Hawaii and Florida.  The data are of
professional quality and could be used by both amateur and professional
radio astronomers. The data from the spectrographs are being archived at
NSSDC as well.

### Moon Trees Project

Dr. David Williams, a contract staff member for the NSSDC has been
involved in the Moon Trees project since 1996. The project involves tree
seeds that were flown to the Moon on Apollo 14 in 1971 and brought back
to Earth. The seedlings were widely distributed to schools and
organizations for planting as part of the nation\'s bicentennial
celebration. The trees were planted as a \"tribute to our national space
program\" and \"a living symbol of our \... scientific achievements\"
and still serve to inspire people, especially children, about the role
they might play in future space exploration. Most of the trees are not
prominently marked as \"Moon Trees\" and systematic records were not
kept, so the project is attempting to locate these trees and find out
some of the history behind them. The NSSDC staff member is coordinating
this effort which includes a set of web pages on the Moon trees. These
pages link back to information about the Apollo missions, science
experiments, and information on the Moon which will help to motivate
people to learn more about lunar exploration. In recognition of this
work, Dr. Willliams was invited to deliver the commencement address at
the French International School in San Francisco in June 2004. More
recently he participated in a Moon Tree planting ceremony in Arlington
National Cemetery.

# Future Directions FY 2006-2010

## Major themes 

Over the 40+ years of NSSDC's existence, we have seen substantial
evolution in the Space Science's information systems, including
archives. As noted, NSSDC's role has also evolved substantially while
retaining a focus on long-term preservation.. As we look to the future,
it is clear that NSSDC must retain this focus while promoting the best
values for Space Science's information system needs. It must be
pro-active in promoting cost-effective approaches, and it must be
flexible and nimble in responding to the changing organizational,
implementation, technical and policy environments.

To this end, NSSDC has identified a number of significant thrusts that
it intends to pursue given the current environment. It must, of course,
periodically evaluate them for any needed changes in direction and
prioritization.

### Preserving information efficiently

Approach: Work with the discipline archives and broader community to
ensure its space science data is adequately documented for
understandability and is in a form that is cost-effectively preservable
for the long-term.

The most basic function of the NSSDC is to ensure the long term
preservation of space science data in a form that is understandable and
usable to the broad space science community. This means that space
science data must be in a form that can be readily migrated across
different media types and must have adequate accompanying documentation
that can also be readily migrated with it. The techniques and criteria
used to reach this state, or some approximation to it, vary widely
across the space science disciplines and often from one set of data to
another. NSSDC will more aggressively promote categories of
documentation that should be available, and it will work with the
disciplines and active archives to reach consensus on these requirements
and on mechanisms to improve conformance, as needed. It will also
address the issue of the cost-effective long term preservation of
information currently residing in databases.

### Doing more cost effectively (more NSSDC for the buck)

Approach: Benefit preservation operations by improved processes with an
increased reliance on low-maintenance system capabilities (more work for
less cost).

In the long and short term plans for NSSDC, automation plays a key role.
We certainly will benefit from increased reliance on lower maintenance
system capabilities, i.e. more work for lower cost. Optimistically, this
is a way to lower costs. Realistically, with the projected growth in the
volume of datasets, more-automated and lower-maintenance systems are a
necessary survival skill for archives. With nearly static budgets, more
efficient archive systems are the primary way to prevent our archive
drowning and sinking under the massive volumes of data predicted in our
near future.

The menu of possibilities to increase efficiency include those
improvements already in progress, areas we have targeted for future
improvement, and longer term issues we need to address.

The legacy tape migration project is our largest, ongoing, improvement
in efficiency. Not only is it essential for preservation of the data's
information content, but the transformation into AIPs and storage in the
near-line DLT jukeboxes will greatly improve our monitoring and access
capabilities. Future migrations of this content to newer media will be
far more cost-effective. Our long-term plan is to move most content,
both permanent and second archive, into AIPs to take advantage of these
efficiencies. Magnetic tape currently remains the most cost effective
storage method.

We DO NOT plan to put the entire, or even most of, the permanent archive
on the web in the near term. We will, however, continue to make more
data web accessible as per MOUs with other archives and projects, and as
the sole provider of data of significant interest to the research
community.

We plan to improve web access to information about the digital datasets
in the permanent archive, such as with improved search capabilities. We
may also post sample data from various datasets, which may be especially
useful for some of the "ancient" (epoch \< 1970) datasets in the
permanent archive. We need to similarly expand web information about our
analog datasets -- i.e. images, documents and maps.

We plan to make more of our analog archive electronically visible and
accessible. Long-term plans include digitizing most of the NSSDC's
archive of analog datasets, primarily images, documents and maps. We
would likely preserve the original analog data off site, post the most
requested data on line and keep all digital copies at least near line.

Historically the archive has been a very human-intensive effort, with
scientists or highly-skilled technical staff required to perform
extensive work to document and permanently archive arriving data. With
increasing volumes of data arriving from flight projects, such a
labor-intensive effort can no longer be supported. Large volumes of data
will need to be ingested quickly, along with ancillary information and
data. NSSDC is working with active archives and other data providers to
ensure that the ingest process is as streamlined as possible, with
automation and programming solutions handling the bulk of ingest,
freeing staff to work on providing solutions to future demands.
Specifically, an internal assessment of the entire process of preparing
a dataset for ingest was completed. It showed that the current process
relies primarily on the acquisition scientist to provide supporting
information in a series of four steps. Each subsequent step was with a
different member of the acquisitions staff. The improved system will
rely on the acquisition scientist to provide all the necessary
information about the dataset in one consolidated submission early in
the process. The data and supporting information then will be marshaled
through the internal NSSDC processes by the ingest manager, who will
confirm that all the required steps have been completed successfully and
then authorize the actual ingest of the data. We will further review
which of these internal steps can be completed in parallel rather than
in series and assess which steps might be automated, combined or
eliminated.

NSSDC's hardware systems are under constant review, as necessitated by
the continuing evolution of technology. We are counting on increased
storage per magnetic medium and on larger jukeboxes with shorter access
times for data from magnetic media. For example, the ongoing legacy tape
migration from 9-track and other equally obsolete tape formats to DLTs
and Super DLTs is a major step forward. To continue to hold onto our
gains and keep a viable archive requires continuing media refreshes.

### Providing better solutions for the future while preserving the past

Approach: Increase the integration of NSSDC's metadata/data repositories
through improved architectural designs and implementation that improve
consistency and cost-effectiveness.

NSSDC has a long history of archiving space data and of documenting not
only the data, but ancillary information about its sources. While this
has led to a rich information environment, it has also led to disparity
as additional systems or architectures were adopted to take advantage of
new technologies. The result has been that some parts of the NSSDC\'s
environment have evolved more quickly than others and some have remained
relatively static for decades.

In today\'s world of demanding consumers, where information and data are
required quickly, it is necessary to be responsive to the higher
expectations that researcher and other interested parties have. While
great strides have been taken to better integrate our various data and
metadata systems, there is still more that needs to be done to stay
competitive.

NSSDC\'s data and information systems must take advantage of new
capabilities and new architectures as they evolve to address these
demands. Several disparate metadata systems have been re-integrated over
the last decade and that process is expected to continue. Plans are in
place to better integrate NSSDC\'s off-line and near-line inventory
systems as well as to make its extensive photographic inventory more
accessible to researchers and the general public.

### Resident Archives -- bridge to quality mission data

Approach: Work with space physics discipline scientists to evolve the
Resident Archive concept for topical or scientific groupings.

That is a goal of the Resident Archive (RA) effort. NSSDC has been
involved since the inception of the RA concept and is a key player in
the effective management of RA resources that enhance the quality of
data delivered to the permanent archive. A vital aspect of NSSDC's
interactions with Resident Archives is to provide the management needed
to bridge the responsibilities of the missions with the requirements of
the larger solar and space physics communities.

Following the specific requirements of its MOUs with projects and RAs,
NSSDC provides the model needed to formulate a successful RA Data Plan
(RADP), assembles the standards and processes for providing quality data
on a continuing basis, and incorporates the guidance provided by review
committees and interactions. Each RA will be a unique case but it can be
built on the experience transmitted through an RA User Group established
under NSSDC policies. A future evolution involves the grouping of RAs
into natural coalitions where economy of scale or expertise comes into
play. The resulting loose confederation can then provide NASA with a
cost effective means to provide quality data based on the mission
experts, in a continual manner for the benefit of the community and with
an eye toward the long-term preservation for future generations.

### Finding the right data, right now

Approach: work with VO middleware developers, active archives, project
archives, including RAs, so as to improve research effectiveness of
space science services (right data, right now).

Finding the right data right now is the goal of virtual observatory (VO)
efforts, including registries and Web Services for transparent
distributed data discovery and access. VOs enable interoperability, and
interoperable systems enable powerful capabilities for correlative
science. This is one of the primary scientific justifications for
interoperability. Some of the greatest scientific discoveries of the
past decade have come at the intersection of disciplines or
sub-disciplines, where data from multiple sources are combined,
correlated, and inter-compared for new insights into the nature of
physical and astrophysical systems. But, such interoperability delivers
an even broader set of value-added functions. These include: (a) data
quality verification and data validation (from complementary data); (b)
increased usefulness and usability of data when examined in concert with
other datasets; and (c) ease of data access from multiple distributed
systems. This is essentially the motivation for VO efforts, and VOs are
in fact the instantiation of interoperable systems for space science
data services.

NSSDC will work with VO middleware developers to take advantage of the
latest developments for registering datasets and data ordering
interfaces. This is a vital aspect of NSSDC's interactions with active
archives and Resident Archives -- in such cases, the vision of one-stop
shopping for all of a user's data needs requires active VO participation
of all archive sources (permanent, active, and Resident, plus project
archives). The research effectiveness of the community is thereby
significantly enhanced, as data searches, requests, and accesses are
brought to a single focus at whatever NASA space science information
service entry point the user chooses.

NSSDC will provide the legacy data component of the full spectrum of
space science data resources. In this VO-enabled environment,
cost-effectiveness is achieved through reuse, common development, and
resource-sharing. Cost savings in these areas translate into greater
end-user services, capabilities, and space science research support
functions elsewhere within NASA's permanent, active, Resident, and
project archives. Consequently, NSSDC will be able to provide a richer
and more accessible data environment for space science archival
research, long-term studies, historical data anchor points, reference
data, trend analyses, and new mission planning. VO-style data discovery
and access services will augment NSSDC\'s strength in fulfilling these
obligations, thus enabling greater research capacity within the
community and greater return on NASA\'s archival systems investments.

NSSDC is also the logical home for some data and service (resource)
registries, particularly for the space physics community. Where
appropriate, NSSDC will implement these information and middleware
services in XML form, so that the content can be cost-effectively reused
in many applications through the use of XSLT stylesheet transformations.
XSLT allows the same meta-tagged information content to generate forms,
to populate databases, to generate web pages or other documentation, to
drive applications or services, to populate registries, or even to
transform data and metadata from one format to another, tailored to the
specific end-user needs of those data and services.

### Working Smarter

Approach: Work with other archives to identify the problems and solution
for handling complex and voluminous data through evolution of technology
and standards.

It is no longer (if ever it was) appropriate for stove-pipe development
activities among NASA's distributed science archives. Smarter processes
begin with effective communication, cross-fertilization,
resource-sharing, reuse, and shared lessons learned. NASA supports a
number of archives in the space science domain, and many of them are
already older than 10 years. These archives also have a number of
common, largely discipline independent, issues associated with
preserving and managing their holdings. These include cost-effective
solutions for handling large volumes of data; ensuring the information
content is well identified and preserved against the ravages of
technology evolution, security breaches, and operator error; maintaining
awareness of growing consensus on good digital preservation practices in
the broader digital preservation community; and maintaining awareness of
evolving technologies that can benefit the archives operations.

NSSDC plans to play a growing role in facilitating information discovery
and sharing about these issues through a number of approaches, including
continued participation in relevant standards developments, publicizing
resources that come to its attention by virtue of its participation in
broadly based standards development, working more closely with various
archives on a one-to-one basis to understand and publicize their
approaches and to offer NSSDC perspectives, and facilitating
multi-archive workshops to address issues as appropriate.

NSSDC will participate and contribute to these interoperable archive
efforts through participation in such cross-archive working groups and
steering committees as the Resident Archives Users Group, PDS Management
Council, and ADEC (Astrophysics Data Centers Executive Council). Within
these contexts, NSSDC and the active, Resident, and project archives
identify common problems, reusable and cost-effective solutions,
opportunities for resource-sharing, and opportunities for interoperable
data services. As NASA's space science data enterprise encounters
skyrocketing data volumes and increasing complexity of data types, data
organization, and database technologies, it is imperative for NSSDC and
the other archives to work more closely together in addressing these
challenges and in providing new powerful functionalities to meet them.

Through its active participation in standards development, long-term
preservation, and OAIS reference implementation, NSSDC is therefore
poised to contribute significantly to NASA's interoperable cross-archive
improvement and enhancement efforts. In the end, the research
capabilities of NASA's space science community will grow and the
potential for exciting new scientific discoveries from multi-datasets
will be greatly magnified. Correlative science is the strong end-user
benefit derived from interoperability and closer cross-archive
activities.

# 3 Appendix A: Acronym List {#appendix-a-acronym-list .unnumbered}

AA Active Archive

ACE Advanced Composition Explorer

ADC Astronomical Data Center

ADEC Astronomy Data Centers Executive Committee

AIM Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere

AIP Archive Information Package

ALSEP Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package

CCSDS The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems

CD Compact Disc

CDAWeb Coordinated Data Analysis Workshop web interface

COBE Cosmic Background Explorer

CODATA Committee on Data for Science and Technology

COSPAR Committee on Space Research

CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check

DCC Digital Curation Centre

DIOnAS Data Ingest and Online Access System

DLT Digital Linear Tape

DVD Digital Video Disc

ESA European Space Agency

FAST Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer

GALEX Galaxy Evolution Explorer

HEASARC High-Energy Astrophysics SARC

IBEX Interstellar Boundary Explorer

ICSTI International Council for Scientific and Technical Information

IDA Interactive Digital Archive

IMAGE Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration

IMP Interplanetary Monitoring Platform

InterPARES The International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in
Electronic Systems

IRAS Infrared Astronomical Satellite

ISEE International Sun-Earth Explorer

ISO International Standards Organization

JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

JEDS Java-interface to Experiment, Dataset, and Spacecraft (and
publication) information in NIMS

JIN Java-interface to INventory information in NIMS

JRAND Java-interface to Request And Name Directory information in NIMS

LAMBDA Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis

MAST Multi-mission Archive at Space Telescope

NARA National Archives and Records Administration

NCITS National Committee for Information Technology Standards

MER Mars Exploration Rovers

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

MPGA Multifile Packager and Analyzer

NASS NSSDC AIP Storage System

NEAR Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous

NIMS NSSDC Information Management system

NMC NSSDC Master Catalog (public view to NIMS)

NSF National Science Foundation

NSSDC National Space Science Data Center

OAIS Open Archival Information System

PDMP Project Data Management Plan

PDS Planetary Data system

PI Principle Investigator

PV-2005 Ensuring Long-Term **P**reservation and Adding **V**alue to
Scientific and Technical Data (PV 2005)

RHESSI Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager

RLG Research Libraries Group

SAMPEX Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer

SARC Science Archive Research Center

SDAC Solar Data Archive Center

SDC Science Data Center

SDLT Super DLT

SIP Submission Information Package

SON Student Observation Netword

SPASE Space Physics Search and Exchange

SPDF Space Physics Data Facility

STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematical

SWAS Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite

THEMIS Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during
Substorms

TIMED Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics

WDC SI World Data Center for Satellite Information

XML eXtensible Markup Language

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