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SPASE: The Connection Among Solar and Space Physics Data Centers

The Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) project is an international collaboration among Heliophysics (solar and space physics) groups concerned with data acquisition and archiving. Within this community there are a variety of old and new data centers, resident archives, "virtual observatories", etc. acquiring, holding, and distributing data. A researcher interested in finding data of value for his or her study faces a complex data environment. The SPASE group has simplified the search for data through the development of the SPASE Data Model as a common method to describe data sets in the various archives. The data model is an XML-based schema and is now in operational use. There are both positives and negatives to this approach. The advantage is the common metadata language enabling wide-ranging searches across the archives, but it is difficult to inspire the data holders to spend the time necessary to describe their data using the Model. Software tools have helped, but the main motivational factor is wide-ranging use of the standard by the community. The use is expanding, but there are still other groups who could benefit from adopting SPASE. The SPASE Data Model is also being expanded in the sense of providing the means for more detailed description of data sets with the aim of enabling more automated ingestion and use of the data through detailed format descriptions. We will discuss the present state of SPASE usage and how we foresee development in the future. The evolution is based on a number of lessons learned - some unique to Heliophysics, but many common to the various data disciplines.

Thieman, James R.↗

NASA Tech Briefs, September 2003

Topics include: Oxygen-Partial-Pressure Sensor for Aircraft Oxygen Mask; Three-Dimensional Venturi Sensor for Measuring Extreme Winds; Swarms of Micron-Sized Sensors; Monitoring Volcanoes by Use of Air-Dropped Sensor Packages; Capacitive Sensors for Measuring Masses of Cryogenic Fluids; UHF Microstrip Antenna Array for Synthetic- Aperture Radar; Multimode Broad-Band Patch Antennas; 164-GHz MMIC HEMT Frequency Doubler; GPS Position and Heading Circuitry for Ships; Software for Managing Parametric Studies; Software Aids Visualization of Computed Unsteady Flow; Software for Testing Electroactive Structural Components; Advanced Software for Analysis of High-Speed Rolling-Element Bearings; Web Program for Development of GUIs for Cluster Computers; XML-Based Generator of C++ Code for Integration With GUIs; Oxide Protective Coats for Ir/Re Rocket Combustion Chambers; Simplified Waterproofing of Aerogels; Improved Thermal-Insulation Systems for Low Temperatures; Device for Automated Cutting and Transfer of Plant Shoots; Extension of Liouville Formalism to Postinstability Dynamics; Advances in Thrust-Based Emergency Control of an Airplane; Ultrasonic/Sonic Mechanisms for Drilling and Coring; Exercise Device Would Exert Selectable Constant Resistance; Improved Apparatus for Measuring Distance Between Axles; Six Classes of Diffraction-Based Optoelectronic Instruments; Modernizing Fortran 77 Legacy Codes; Active State Model for Autonomous Systems; Shields for Enhanced Protection Against High-Speed Debris; Scaling of Two-Phase Flows to Partial-Earth Gravity; Neutral-Axis Springs for Thin-Wall Integral Boom Hinges.

Source record↗

Software for Displaying Data from Planetary Rovers

Science Activity Planner (SAP) DownlinkBrowser is a computer program that assists in the visualization of processed telemetric data [principally images, image cubes (that is, multispectral images), and spectra] that have been transmitted to Earth from exploratory robotic vehicles (rovers) on remote planets. It is undergoing adaptation to (1) the Field Integrated Design and Operations (FIDO) rover (a prototype Mars-exploration rover operated on Earth as a test bed) and (2) the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission. This program has evolved from its predecessor - the Web Interface for Telescience (WITS) software - and surpasses WITS in the processing, organization, and plotting of data. SAP DownlinkBrowser creates Extensible Markup Language (XML) files that organize data files, on the basis of content, into a sortable, searchable product database, without the overhead of a relational database. The data-display components of SAP DownlinkBrowser (descriptively named ImageView, 3DView, OrbitalView, PanoramaView, ImageCubeView, and SpectrumView) are designed to run in a memory footprint of at least 256MB on computers that utilize the Windows, Linux, and Solaris operating systems.

Powell, Mark↗

Make Your Workflows Smarter

Do you have workflows with many manual tasks that slow down your business? Or, do you scale back workflows because there are simply too many manual tasks? Basic workflow robots can automate some common tasks, but not everything. This presentation will show how advanced robots called "expression robots" can be set up to perform everything from simple tasks such as: moving, creating folders, renaming, changing or creating an attribute, and revising, to more complex tasks like: creating a pdf, or even launching a session of Creo Parametric and performing a specific modeling task. Expression robots are able to utilize the Java API and Info*Engine to do almost anything you can imagine! Best of all, these tools are supported by PTC and will work with later releases of Windchill. Limited knowledge of Java, Info*Engine, and XML are required. The attendee will learn what task expression robots are capable of performing. The attendee will learn what is involved in setting up an expression robot. The attendee will gain a basic understanding of simple Info*Engine tasks

Jones, Corey↗

SPASE: Current Uses, Tools, and Plans

The Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) project is an international collaboration among Heliophysics (solar and space physics) groups concerned with data acquisition and archiving. Within this community there are a variety of old and new data centers, resident archives, "virtual observatories", etc. acquiring, holding, and distributing data. The main product of the SPASE group is an XML-based SPASE Data Model now in operational use to enable searches for and ultimate acquisition of data of interest to a researcher. The SPASE Data Model defines the content of resource descriptions (metadata). The intent is to describe all SCientifically usable Heliophysics data sets using the Data Model. Another product of the SPASE group, in collaboration with NASA's Virtual Observatories, is a set of tools and services which work with SPASE meta data. This includes Registry Services which can retrieve and render metadata using resource identifiers and facilitate the downloading of the data referenced by the meta data. The SPASE Data Model has also been used as a vocabulary in specialized data models. One example is the Heliophysics Event List Manager (HELM) model. The SPASE Data Model is also being expanded to provide the means for more detailed description of data sets with the aim of enabling more automated ingestion and use of the data through detailed format descriptions. The evolution is based on a number of lessons learned and feedback from our community. Some of the lessons learned are unique to Heliophysics, and some are common to the various data diSCiplines. We will discuss the present state of SPASE usage, the role the SPASE Data Model can play in speCialized data models and how we foresee the development direction in the future.

Thieman, J. R.↗

The SPASE Data Model for Heliophysics Data: Is it Working?

The Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) Data Model was developed to provide a metadata standard for describing Heliophysics (Space and Solar Physics) data within that science discipline. The SPASE Data Model has matured over the many years of its creation and is presently represented by Version 2.2.1. Information about SPASE can be obtained from the website group.org. The Data Model defines terms and values as well as the relationships between them in order to describe the data resources in the Heliophysics data environment. This data environment is quite complex, consisting of Virtual Observatories, Resident Archives, Data Providers, Partnering Data Centers, Services, Final Archives, and a Deep Archive. SPASE is the metadata language standard intended to permeate the complexity and provide a common method of obtaining and understanding data. Is it working in this capacity? SPASE has been used to describe a wide range of data. Examples range from ground-based magnetometer data to interplanetary satellite measurements to space weather model results. Has it achieved the goal of making the data easier to find and use? To find data of interest it is necessary that all the data of importance be described using the SPASE Data Model. Within the part of the data community associated with NASA (supported through NASA funding) there are obligations to use SPASE and (0 describe the old and new data using the SPASE XML schema. Although this pan of the community is not near 100% compliance with the mandate, there is good progress being made and the goal should be reachable in the future. Outside of the NASA data community there is still work to be done to convince the international community that SPASE descriptions are w011h the cost of their generation. Some of these groups such as Cluster, HELlO, GAIA, NOAA/NGDe. CSSDP, VSTO, SuperMAG, and IUGONET have agreed to use SPASE. but there are still other groups of importance that need (0 be reached. It is also assumed that the terminology is sufficiently broad and the descriptions are sufficiently complete that researchers needing data of a specific type or from a specific period can find and acquire what they need. A valid SPASE description can be very brief or very thorough depending on the willingness of the author to spend the time necessary to make the description useful. There is evidence that users are finding what they need through the SPASE descriptions, and this standard is a big step forward in Heliophysics data location. Does SPASE make it easier to use the data once they are found,) Thorough descriptions of data using SPASE can describe the data down to the level of individual parameters and exactly how the data are organized and stored. Should the SPASE data descriptions be written in such a way that they can be automatically ingested and understood by software tools'? Heliophysics instruments are becoming morc versatile all the time and the complexity of the data makes it tedious and time consuming to write SPASE descriptions with this level of sophistication even with the improvement of the tools used to generate the descriptions. Is it better to just write human-readable descriptions of the data at the parameter level or to refer to references that provide this information? This is a debate that is presently taking place and software is being developed to test what is possible.

Thieman, James↗

Parallel Eclipse Project Checkout

Parallel Eclipse Project Checkout (PEPC) is a program written to leverage parallelism and to automate the checkout process of plug-ins created in Eclipse RCP (Rich Client Platform). Eclipse plug-ins can be aggregated in a feature project. This innovation digests a feature description (xml file) and automatically checks out all of the plug-ins listed in the feature. This resolves the issue of manually checking out each plug-in required to work on the project. To minimize the amount of time necessary to checkout the plug-ins, this program makes the plug-in checkouts parallel. After parsing the feature, a request to checkout for each plug-in in the feature has been inserted. These requests are handled by a thread pool with a configurable number of threads. By checking out the plug-ins in parallel, the checkout process is streamlined before getting started on the project. For instance, projects that took 30 minutes to checkout now take less than 5 minutes. The effect is especially clear on a Mac, which has a network monitor displaying the bandwidth use. When running the client from a developer s home, the checkout process now saturates the bandwidth in order to get all the plug-ins checked out as fast as possible. For comparison, a checkout process that ranged from 8-200 Kbps from a developer s home is now able to saturate a pipe of 1.3 Mbps, resulting in significantly faster checkouts. Eclipse IDE (integrated development environment) tries to build a project as soon as it is downloaded. As part of another optimization, this innovation programmatically tells Eclipse to stop building while checkouts are happening, which dramatically reduces lock contention and enables plug-ins to continue downloading until all of them finish. Furthermore, the software re-enables automatic building, and forces Eclipse to do a clean build once it finishes checking out all of the plug-ins. This software is fully generic and does not contain any NASA-specific code. It can be applied to any Eclipse-based repository with a similar structure. It also can apply build parameters and preferences automatically at the end of the checkout.

Crockett, Thomas M.↗

MSLICE Sequencing

MSLICE Sequencing is a graphical tool for writing sequences and integrating them into RML files, as well as for producing SCMF files for uplink. When operated in a testbed environment, it also supports uplinking these SCMF files to the testbed via Chill. This software features a free-form textural sequence editor featuring syntax coloring, automatic content assistance (including command and argument completion proposals), complete with types, value ranges, unites, and descriptions from the command dictionary that appear as they are typed. The sequence editor also has a "field mode" that allows tabbing between arguments and displays type/range/units/description for each argument as it is edited. Color-coded error and warning annotations on problematic tokens are included, as well as indications of problems that are not visible in the current scroll range. "Quick Fix" suggestions are made for resolving problems, and all the features afforded by modern source editors are also included such as copy/cut/paste, undo/redo, and a sophisticated find-and-replace system optionally using regular expressions. The software offers a full XML editor for RML files, which features syntax coloring, content assistance and problem annotations as above. There is a form-based, "detail view" that allows structured editing of command arguments and sequence parameters when preferred. The "project view" shows the user s "workspace" as a tree of "resources" (projects, folders, and files) that can subsequently be opened in editors by double-clicking. Files can be added, deleted, dragged-dropped/copied-pasted between folders or projects, and these operations are undoable and redoable. A "problems view" contains a tabular list of all problems in the current workspace. Double-clicking on any row in the table opens an editor for the appropriate sequence, scrolling to the specific line with the problem, and highlighting the problematic characters. From there, one can invoke "quick fix" as described above to resolve the issue. Once resolved, saving the file causes the problem to be removed from the problem view.

Crockett, Thomas M.↗

Web-Based Customizable Viewer for Mars Network Overflight Opportunities

This software displays a full summary of information regarding the overflight opportunities between any set of lander and orbiter pairs that the user has access to view. The information display can be customized, allowing the user to choose which fields to view/hide and filter. The software works from a Web browser on any modern operating system. A full summary of information pertaining to an overflight is available, including the proposed, tentative, requested, planned, and implemented. This gives the user a chance to quickly check for inconsistencies and fix any problems. Overflights from multiple lander/ orbiter pairs can be compared instantly, and information can be filtered through the query and shown/hidden, giving the user a customizable view of the data. The information can be exported to a CSV (comma separated value) or XML (extensible markup language) file. The software only grants access to users who are authorized to view the information. This application is an addition to the MaROS Web suite. Prior to this addition, information pertaining to overflight opportunities would have a limited amount of data (displayed graphically) and could only be shown in strict temporal ordering. This new display shows more information, allows direct comparisons between overflights, and allows the data to be manipulated in ways that it was unable to be done in the past. The current software solution is to use CSV files to view the overflight opportunities.

Gladden, Roy E.↗

Earth Science Datacasting v2.0

The Datacasting software, which consists of a server and a client, has been developed as part of the Earth Science (ES) Datacasting project. The goal of ES Datacasting is to provide scientists the ability to automatically and continuously download Earth science data that meets a precise, predefined need, and then to instantaneously visualize it on a local computer. This is achieved by applying the concept of podcasting to deliver science data over the Internet using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) XML feeds. By extending the RSS specification, scientists can filter a feed and only download the files that are required for a particular application (for example, only files that contain information about a particular event, such as a hurricane or flood). The extension also provides the ability for the client to understand the format of the data and visualize the information locally. The server part enables a data provider to create and serve basic Datacasting (RSS-based) feeds. The user can subscribe to any number of feeds, view the information related to each item contained within a feed (including browse pre-made images), manually download files associated with items, and place these files in a local store. The client-server architecture enables users to: a) Subscribe and interpret multiple Datacasting feeds (same look and feel as a typical mail client), b) Maintain a list of all items within each feed, c) Enable filtering on the lists based on different metadata attributes contained within the feed (list will reference only data files of interest), d) Visualize the reference data and associated metadata, e) Download files referenced within the list, and f) Automatically download files as new items become available.

Bingham, Andrew W.↗

WMS Server 2.0

This software is a simple, yet flexible server of raster map products, compliant with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Map Service (WMS) 1.1.1 protocol. The server is a full implementation of the OGC WMS 1.1.1 as a fastCGI client and using Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL) for data access. The server can operate in a proxy mode, where all or part of the WMS requests are done on a back server. The server has explicit support for a colocated tiled WMS, including rapid response of black (no-data) requests. It generates JPEG and PNG images, including 16-bit PNG. The GDAL back-end support allows great flexibility on the data access. The server is a port to a Linux/GDAL platform from the original IRIX/IL platform. It is simpler to configure and use, and depending on the storage format used, it has better performance than other available implementations. The WMS server 2.0 is a high-performance WMS implementation due to the fastCGI architecture. The use of GDAL data back end allows for great flexibility. The configuration is relatively simple, based on a single XML file. It provides scaling and cropping, as well as blending of multiple layers based on layer transparency.

Plesea, Lucian↗

MER Telemetry Processor

MERTELEMPROC processes telemetered data in data product format and generates Experiment Data Records (EDRs) for many instruments (HAZCAM, NAVCAM, PANCAM, microscopic imager, Moessbauer spectrometer, APXS, RAT, and EDLCAM) on the Mars Exploration Rover (MER). If the data is compressed, then MERTELEMPROC decompresses the data with an appropriate decompression algorithm. There are two compression algorithms (ICER and LOCO) used in MER. This program fulfills a MER specific need to generate Level 1 products within a 60-second time requirement. EDRs generated by this program are used by merinverter, marscahv, marsrad, and marsjplstereo to generate higher-level products for the mission operations. MERTELEPROC was the first GDS program to process the data product. Metadata of the data product is in XML format. The software allows user-configurable input parameters, per-product processing (not streambased processing), and fail-over is allowed if the leading image header is corrupted. It is used within the MER automated pipeline. MERTELEMPROC is part of the OPGS (Operational Product Generation Subsystem) automated pipeline, which analyzes images returned by in situ spacecraft and creates level 1 products to assist in operations, science, and outreach.

Lee, Hyun H.↗

ION Configuration Editor

The configuration of ION (Inter - planetary Overlay Network) network nodes is a manual task that is complex, time-consuming, and error-prone. This program seeks to accelerate this job and produce reliable configurations. The ION Configuration Editor is a model-based smart editor based on Eclipse Modeling Framework technology. An ION network designer uses this Eclipse-based GUI to construct a data model of the complete target network and then generate configurations. The data model is captured in an XML file. Intrinsic editor features aid in achieving model correctness, such as field fill-in, type-checking, lists of valid values, and suitable default values. Additionally, an explicit "validation" feature executes custom rules to catch more subtle model errors. A "survey" feature provides a set of reports providing an overview of the entire network, enabling a quick assessment of the model s completeness and correctness. The "configuration" feature produces the main final result, a complete set of ION configuration files (eight distinct file types) for each ION node in the network.

Borgen, Richard L.↗

Decision Support Systems for Launch and Range Operations Using Jess

The virtual test bed for launch and range operations developed at NASA Ames Research Center consists of various independent expert systems advising on weather effects, toxic gas dispersions and human health risk assessment during space-flight operations. An individual dedicated server supports each expert system and the master system gather information from the dedicated servers to support the launch decision-making process. Since the test bed is based on the web system, reducing network traffic and optimizing the knowledge base is critical to its success of real-time or near real-time operations. Jess, a fast rule engine and powerful scripting environment developed at Sandia National Laboratory has been adopted to build the expert systems providing robustness and scalability. Jess also supports XML representation of knowledge base with forward and backward chaining inference mechanism. Facts added - to working memory during run-time operations facilitates analyses of multiple scenarios. Knowledge base can be distributed with one inference engine performing the inference process. This paper discusses details of the knowledge base and inference engine using Jess for a launch and range virtual test bed.

Thirumalainambi, Rajkumar↗

KLASS: Kennedy Launch Academy Simulation System

Software provides access to many sophisticated scientific instrumentation (Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), a Light Microscope, a Scanning Probe Microscope (covering Scanning Tunneling, Atomic Force, and Magnetic Force microscopy), and an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer for the SEM). Flash animation videos explain how each of the instruments work. Videos on how they are used at NASA and the sample preparation. Measuring and labeling tools provided with each instrument. Hands on experience of controlling the virtual instrument to conduct investigations, much like the real scientists at NASA do. Very open architecture. Open source on SourceForge. Extensive use of XML Target audience is high school and entry-level college students. "Many beginning students never get closer to an electron microscope than the photos in their textbooks. But anyone can get a sense of what the instrument can do by downloading this simulator from NASA's Kennedy Space Center." Science Magazine, April 8th, 2005

Garner, Lesley C.↗

CCSDS Overview

The primary goal of Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) is interoperability between communications and data systems of space agencies' vehicles, facilities, missions and programs. Of all of the technologies used in spaceflight, standardization of communications and data systems brings the most benefit to multi-agency interoperability. CCSDS Started in 1982 developing standards at the lower layers of the protocol stack. The CCSDS scope has grown to cover standards throughout the entire ISO communications stack, plus other Data Systems areas (architecture, archive, security, XML exchange formats, etc.

Kearney, Mike↗

The Affordance Template ROS Package for Robot Task Programming

This paper introduces the Affordance Template ROS package for quickly programming, adjusting, and executing robot applications in the ROS RViz environment. This package extends the capabilities of RViz interactive markers by allowing an operator to specify multiple end-effector waypoint locations and grasp poses in object-centric coordinate frames and to adjust these waypoints in order to meet the run-time demands of the task (specifically, object scale and location). The Affordance Template package stores task specifications in a robot-agnostic XML description format such that it is trivial to apply a template to a new robot. As such, the Affordance Template package provides a robot-generic ROS tool appropriate for building semi-autonomous, manipulation-based applications. Affordance Templates were developed by the NASA-JSC DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) team and have since successfully been deployed on multiple platforms including the NASA Valkyrie and Robonaut 2 humanoids, the University of Texas Dreamer robot and the Willow Garage PR2. In this paper, the specification and implementation of the affordance template package is introduced and demonstrated through examples for wheel (valve) turning, pick-and-place, and drill grasping, evincing its utility and flexibility for a wide variety of robot applications.

Hart, Stephen↗

CEO Sites Mission Management System (SMMS)

Late in fiscal year 2011, the Crew Earth Observations (CEO) team was tasked to upgrade its science site database management tool, which at the time was integrated with the Automated Mission Planning System (AMPS) originally developed for Earth Observations mission planning in the 1980s. Although AMPS had been adapted and was reliably used by CEO for International Space Station (ISS) payload operations support, the database structure was dated, and the compiler required for modifications would not be supported in the Windows 7 64-bit operating system scheduled for implementation the following year. The Sites Mission Management System (SMMS) is now the tool used by CEO to manage a heritage Structured Query Language (SQL) database of more than 2,000 records for Earth science sites. SMMS is a carefully designed and crafted in-house software package with complete and detailed help files available for the user and meticulous internal documentation for future modifications. It was delivered in February 2012 for test and evaluation. Following acceptance, it was implemented for CEO mission operations support in April 2012. The database spans the period from the earliest systematic requests for astronaut photography during the shuttle era to current ISS mission support of the CEO science payload. Besides logging basic image information (site names, locations, broad application categories, and mission requests), the upgraded database management tool now tracks dates of creation, modification, and activation; imagery acquired in response to requests; the status and location of ancillary site information; and affiliations with studies, their sponsors, and collaborators. SMMS was designed to facilitate overall mission planning in terms of site selection and activation and provide the necessary site parameters for the Satellite Tool Kit (STK) Integrated Message Production List Editor (SIMPLE), which is used by CEO operations to perform daily ISS mission planning. The CEO team uses the SMMS for three general functions - database queries of content and status, individual site creation and updates, and mission planning. The CEO administrator of the science site database is able to create or modify the content of sites and activate or deactivate them based on the requirements of the sponsors. The administrator supports and implements ISS mission planning by assembling, reporting, and activating mission-specific site selections for management; deactivating sites as requirements are met; and creating new sites, such as International Charter sites for disasters, as circumstances warrant. In addition to the above CEO internal uses, when site planning for a specific ISS mission is complete and approved, the SMMS can produce and export those essential site database elements for the mission into XML format for use by onboard Earth-location systems, such as Worldmap. The design, development, and implementation of the SMMS resulted in a superior database management system for CEO science sites by focusing on the functions and applications of the database alone instead of integrating the database with the multipurpose configuration of the AMPS. Unlike the AMPS, it can function and be modified within the existing Windows 7 environment. The functions and applications of the SMMS were expanded to accommodate more database elements, report products, and a streamlined interface for data entry and review. A particularly elegant enhancement in data entry was the integration of the Google Earth application for the visual display and definition of site coordinates for site areas defined by multiple coordinates. Transfer between the SMMS and Google Earth is accomplished with a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) expression of geographic data (see figures 3 and 4). Site coordinates may be entered into the SMMS panel directly for display in Google Earth, or the coordinates may be defined on the Google Earth display as a mouse-controlled polygonal definition and transferred back into the SMMS as KML input. This significantly reduces the possibility of errors in coordinate entries and provides visualization of the scale of the site being defined. CEO now has a powerful tool for managing and defining sites on the Earth's surface for both targets of astronaut photography or other onboard remote sensing systems. It can also record and track results by sponsor, collaborator, or type of study.

Trenchard, Mike↗