National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA operates numerous data and statistical programs to make its vast collection of scientific information publicly accessible for research, education, and innovation. The agency's commitment to open science is a core principle, and data is made available through a variety of systems and portals.
Earth Science Data
The Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) program manages a massive archive of Earth observations and data products. ESDS includes several competitive programs that foster innovation in data management and utilization:
| • | Advancing Collaborative Connections for Earth System Science (ACCESS): This program develops technologies to manage, discover, and use NASA's Earth observation data for research. |
| • | Making Earth Science Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs): Focuses on generating and making available long-term, consistent data records to advance understanding of the Earth system. |
| • | Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program (CSESP): Engages the public in contributing to projects that enhance the understanding of Earth as an integrated system. |
NASA also offers specialized data portals, such as NASA POWER, which provides solar and meteorological data for agriculture, energy, and infrastructure. The Earthdata Search tool allows users to find and filter over 50,000 Earth observation data products.
Planetary and Space Science Data
The Planetary Data System (PDS) is a distributed archive that preserves and distributes data from NASA's planetary missions, ground-based studies, and laboratory experiments. The PDS is organized into discipline-specific "nodes," such as the Planetary Atmospheres Node and the Geosciences Node, which are curated by scientists to ensure data quality and documentation. The Planetary Data Ecosystem (PDE) provides a guide to these repositories and offers tools to help researchers visualize and use the data.
Biomedical and Other Data
Within NASA's Human Health and Performance Directorate, the Biostatistics and Data Science (BaDS) team provides statistical consulting and data science support for biomedical research related to spaceflight. They develop new techniques to analyze unique data sets, such as those with small sample sizes from ISS studies. Additionally, NASA's public data portals like Data.nasa.gov provide a wide range of data on topics from meteorite landings to patents and facilities.
The Data Sciences Group at NASA's Ames Research Center also conducts research in data mining and machine learning to create tools that address scientific questions and help with the assimilation of scientific and engineering data to advance NASA's missions.