 |
What was new at theNational Space Science Data Center |
| June 1994 - February 1999 |
|
What was new at theNational Space Science Data Center |
| June 1994 - February 1999 |
This communication reports two improvements in NSSDC's OMNI data set of hourly solar wind magnetic field, plasma and energetic particle data accessible through the OMNIWeb interface. First, the data availability periods have been extended. IMP 8 IMF and plasma data are now available through the ends of September and November 1998, and geomagnetic and solar activity indices through the end of December 1998.
Second, the front pages of the Interplanetary Medium Data Book (1977) and Supplements (1979, 1986, 1989, 1994) have been made accessible as GIF images from the "Data Info" option of the OMNIWeb interface. These pages discuss in detail, in text, tables, and figures, the sources of the data, the cross comparisons and normalizations of the contributing spacecraft-specific data sets, time shifting of the relatively far upstream ISEE-3 data (also relevant to later OMNI-included Wind data) and other details.
NSSDC's holdings of NDADS/SPyCAT-accessible IMP-8 15-s magnetometer data have been updated through the end of September, 1998. Recall that yet more recent 1-minute key parameter data from the IMP magnetometer (R. P. Lepping, PI) are accessible through CDAWeb.
Request IMP 8 data from NDADS/SPyCAT
A new WWW-based interface to the still-unique Atmospheric Explorer composition and temperature data, ATMOWeb, has been developed at NSSDC/SPDF. Unlike the CDF-based OMNIWeb, CDAWeb and other systems, ATMOWeb directly addresses ASCII data (which are also independently anonymous FTP-accessible). Like the CDF-based systems, ATMOWeb offers plotting and subsetted data file creation/downloading capabilities.
Mars Pathfinder Lander images on CD-ROM are now available at NSSDC. The three volume CD-ROM set contains all of the raw images obtained during the mission. The CD-ROM can be ordered on-line through the NSSDC CD-ROM Catalog.
Read about and/or order the Mars Pathfinder Imager CD-ROM
The Mars Global Surveyor Science Sampler CD-ROM is now available at NSSDC. The single CD-ROM volume contains images and data from the early Mars orbits and is intended to provide users with samples of MGS data products from each instrument, to allow them to prepare for data products after MGS achieves its mapping orbit in March 1999. The CD-ROM can be ordered on-line through the NSSDC CD-ROM Catalog.
Read about and/or order the Sampler CD-ROM
The 1997 Annual Report of NSSDC, reporting its data inflow and outflow in 1997, the state of its archive at the end of 1997, and various other highlights of its 1997 activities has been issued. This is the first NSSDC Annual Report to be made WWW-accessible.
Due to the intense interest the general public has shown for information regarding the upcoming solar eclipse on 26 February, the NSSDC has assembled a page with some information about it and pointers to further information.
Over the years, NASA has launched a series of "Explorer" spacecraft carrying a wide variety of scientific investigations. The list identifies the 69 successful and 2 unsuccessful launches as of this writing (October 1997). The list identifies the international ID for each spacecraft, its common name (different than "Explorer N" for most), its launch date, and a list of experiments and associated Principal Investigators associated with each. As of this writing, Explorers 50 (IMP 8) and 67-71 (EUVE, SAMPEX, RXTE, FAST, and ACE) are still operating.
The complete set of Viking Lander 1 and 2 Mars surface images on CD-ROM is now available from NSSDC. The set consists of two CD-ROMs, one for each lander. The CD's can be ordered on-line through the NSSDC CD-ROM Catalog or can be requested by sending e-mail to request@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov or calling our request office at +1-301-286-6695.
Order the Viking Lander CD-ROMs
NSSDC has just created the third in its series of heliospheric trajectory books, this one mainly covering Ulysses and Voyager 1 and 2 through the year 2015. Earlier books were issued in 1986 and 1991. All three of the books have been made newly WWW-accessible.
Heliospheric Trajectory
Books On-line
The National Space Science Data Center has made available the first images of Mars' surface as released by the Mars Pathfinder project. As the Mars Pathfinder project releases additional images, NSSDC will also be making them available as quickly as possible.
The National Space Science Data Center has made available the first images of Mathilde (Asteroid 253) as released by the NEAR project. As the NEAR project releases additional images, NSSDC will also be making them available as quickly as possible.
The National Space Science Data Center has just created an index which shows the systems or interfaces through which space physics data from individual spacecraft may be accessed via network from NSSDC.
Index to Network-Accessible
Space Physics Data at NSSDC
The Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA), whose WWW pages were originally developed at NSSDC and have been available on NSSDC's server for the last two years, has moved to a server at Johnson Space Center. Pointers from the NSSDC's machine to the new JSC machine will remain in place, but users are requested to change any pages they might have to point to the new machine. The new URL is: http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/.
Life Sciences Data Arvhive (LSDA)
NSSDC's Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration is now available on the Web. The chronology is in the form of a timeline, with information on all lunar and planetary missions attempted, successfully or unsucessfully, by all countries over the last 40 years. Links lead to more detailed descriptions and information on each spacecraft and mission from the NSSDC Master Catalog.
Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration
The National Space Science Data Center has just created a web page, through which many parameters may be computed for a specified time and magnetospheric location, based on the latest T96_01 magnetospheric field model. The model accounts for the magnetopause, ring current, magnetotail, Region 1/2 Birkeland currents, and effects of IMF interconnection with the magnetospheric field. The model is parametrized by the solar wind dynamic pressure, Dst, and IMF By/Bz components. References for further details on the model: Tsyganenko JGR, v.100, 5599-5612, 1995; Tsyganenko and Stern JGR, v.101, 27187-27198, 1996. The model source codes, an extensive list of references, and news on the latest developments in that field can also be found at http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Modeling/group.html.
The web page allows the specification of a point in time and space. The user may specify solar wind conditions and Dst values, or may let the system look up actual values for past times from the hourly resolution OMNI data set. The page then computes several parameters for the specified conditions: the model field at the specified point and at its conjugate point; the dipole and corrected geomagnetic coordinates of the specified point and its conjugate point, as well as the geographic coordinates of the latter; the location of maximum geocentric distance of, and the B-minimum value along, the model field line through the specified point.
This service is part of an array of similar services provided by NSSDC for several geophysical models, including ionospheric, atmospheric, and trapped particle models in addition to geomagnetic and magnetospheric field models. All of these models are available on the NSSDC Models page.
NASA's Office of Space Science has recently released the proceedings of its open meeting held on March 27 to discuss, and solicit input to, the future Space Science Data System for managing space science data.
Wouldn't it be great if there was one place to access the NSSDC web resources of greatest interest to the general public user? Well, we've done just that! In response to your NSSDC survey suggestions, we've created a General Public page directed toward our non-scientific user community. Stop in for a visit!
NASA/OSS has just announced an open meeting to be held March 27 to discuss, and solicit input to, the future Space Science Data System for managing space science data.
Further information about the meeting
A new CD-ROM, entitled "Planetary Images", is now available from NSSDC. The CD has over 200 images of planets and other solar system objects, from the first Ranger images of the Moon to the recent Galileo close-ups of the Jovian satellites. Each image includes an explanatory caption as well as information on ordering hardcopy versions of the images from NSSDC.
NSSDC recently passed the 30th anniversary of its founding. To mark the occasion, a social function is being planned for May 17th at the Goddard Recreation Center. We would like to find and include as many people who have worked at NSSDC over the years as possible. If you are such a person, please contact patross@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov. If you know of such a person, please pass this message to him/her.
In the early 1970s, measurements of the energy spectra and mass composition of ions in the eV/Q to keV/Q range were made from three SIDE (Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment) instruments placed on the lunar surface by astronauts of the Apollo 12, 14, and 15 missions. Data from these investigations have been used in a wide range of lunar, magnetotail, and magnetosheath studies. These studies have used processed data now archived at NSSDC which represent about half of the data obtained by the instruments.
NSSDC has just completed the migration of data bits to new media from the original data tapes holding the data not previously processed or analyzed. Whether NSSDC proceeds to further upgrade the usability of these data is contingent on community interest in these data. Thus, your comments are hereby solicited if you are potentially interested in obtaining and analyzing these data.
The Principal Investigator for the SIDE investigations was John Freeman of Rice University. NSSDC's Kent Hills was a member of the original Rice team, and has been supervising the SIDE data restoration effort at NSSDC. Further details on the instruments and the data are available in the full WWW-accessible version of this paper and from the references therein.
Further information on these data
Visit NSSDC's new biographical page which briefly introduces NSSDC
civil service staff.
The COHO directory on nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov has long provided FTP access to PI-supplied data files from numerous deep-space spacecraft. A few years ago, NSSDC created merged hourly ASCII magnetic field, plasma, and spacecraft position data files for each spacecraft. All field vector data were transformed to RTN coordinates, and all position data were likewise transformed to a common system. These files were put on NSSDC's first heliospheric CD-ROM. They were also the input files for NSSDC's COHOWeb, which has a uniform set of parameters for all spacecraft. NSSDC has just made extended versions of these merged annual files, themselves FTP-accessible from "MERGED" subdirectories under each spacecraft directory of COHO.
Also, over the years, NSSDC has made its near-Earth solar wind field/plasma data compilation called OMNI accessible via multiple pathways, for instance on the above-referenced heliospheric CD-ROM and most recently via the Web (OMNIWeb). We have just made annual OMNI files FTP-accessible from a new OMNI subdirectory in COHO.
Finally, we have just issued a new heliospheric CD-ROM which updates the earlier CD-ROM to the mid-1990's.
COHO anonymous FTP site
OMNI anonymous FTP site
Helispheric CD-ROM
A new WWW page with stacked images of our Milky Way galaxy, in each of several wavelength ranges from radio waves to gamma rays, has been created by the GSFC Astrophysics Data Facility's Seth Digel, Dave Leisawitz, Sarah Geitz, and Jay Friedlander. The page also contains text giving data sources, references, and explanations of several observed features. Paper copies (55 cm x 80 cm) of the figure are available from NSSDC.
Multiwavelength Milky Way page
Scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center have announced the discovery of fossil evidence of life in a meteorite which originated from Mars. NSSDC has created a page to provide more information and links to other sites, including the original Science article.
NSSDC has just created and made WWW-accessible a Cosmic and Heliospheric Home Page to supplement other discipline-specific options appearing on the top Home Page of the Space Physics Data System. This C&H page offers information about and access to much C&H data and other assets, and invites C&H community members to provide information on yet other data and assets.
For the past 1.5 years, NSSDC's COHOWeb has offered WWW-based access to uniformized hourly solar wind data from many near-Earth and deep- space spacecraft. In order to better support scientists studying low-resolution, very long-term variations in the near and far solar wind, as well as others for whom daily resolution data is useful, an option for plotting, listing, and downloading daily resolution parameters has just been added to COHOWeb.
NSSDC has added a new item to its interactively accessible models on the WWW: the AE-8/AP-8/RADBELT model software. The AE-8 and AP-8 models provide omnidirectional, integral or differential fluxes of electron (AE) and protons (AP) in the energy range 0.1 - 7 MeV for the electrons and 0.1 - 400 MeV for the protons and in the L-range 1 - 15 for solar minimum and maximum conditions. The new interface can be accessed from NSSDC's Space Physics Models page or directly at the AE-8/AP-8 page.
Internet users can now access the Master Catalog of the NASA Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA) on the World Wide Web. The archive, which represents the first detailed and easily accessible database of research results of the NASA Life Sciences Division, provides a wealth of scientific knowledge developed from 30 years of space-based research into the effects of microgravity on living systems, including the human body.
This information will allow researchers to plan future experiments and conduct retrospective data analysis. It will be equally valuable to students and educators in preparing research papers or class lessons, and in proposing student experiments to NASA.
NASA Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA)
NSSDC has just extended the Helios 1, Helios 2 and Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) data accessible from COHOWeb and has swapped out all previous Helios 1 and 2 magnetic field data with reprocessed data. The PVO plasma data were added into COHOweb from December 1978 to October 1992. Helios 1 magnetic field data were extended to June 1986, and Helios 2 to March 1980. These updates will be followed shortly by extensions of the files from the other COHOWeb spacecraft.
The NASA/GSFC Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) and the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) have just released a new, WWWeb-based system for accessing the public ISTP Key Parameter (KP) database: CDAWeb, the Coordinated Data Analysis (Workshop) Web.
SAMPEX 30 second averaged fluxes from all four instruments, including many of the channels, can now be accessed from NDADS through SPyCAT or via ARMS. Raw 30 s rates from all channels are also available. Polar cap averaged fluxes and rates will be arriving shortly. All files are in ASCII format; a CDF version of the fluxes are being created. Continuing deliveries will increase the time coverage of the data.
Now available on the NSSDC's Life Sciences Data Archive home page descriptions of all missions to fly life sciences experiments! Over 30 missions are described from the Shuttle-Mir, Space Shuttle, Skylab, Apollo, Gemini and Mercury programs. Mission pages include images and patches from the missions and list all life sciences experiments that were flown. Also an on-line glossary is included for life sciences terms and acronyms.
NSSDC has just extended the Ulysses and Voyager data accessible from COHOWeb and has swapped out all previous Voyager 1 and 2 plasma data with reprocessed data from MIT. The Ulysses magnetic field and plasma data were extended to September 1993 and December 1994. Voyager 1 magnetic field data were extended to December 1988. Voyager 2 field and plasma data were extended to December 1989 and November 1995. These updates will be followed shortly by extensions of the files from the other COHOWeb spacecraft.
NSSDC has provided two new pages related to geomagnetic/magnetospheric magnetic field models. These pages allow user specification of time/place of interest, and then provide computed model parameters back. One page relates to the internal-source IGRF model, and allows computation of model field values vs. any one of several spatial or temporal independent variables. The other page incorporates the external-source magnetospheric magnetic field model of N. Tsyganenko (T89C), in addition to IGRF, and allows the computation of several parameters at the specified point of interest as well as at the equatorial crossing point and at the magnetically conjugate point along the model magnetic field line through the specified point. Access to these models is available from the Space Physics Models page.
Run the IGRF Model
Run the T89C Model
New pages have been created that let a user compute model output parameters for user-specified input conditions (time and location). The first two models available in this form are the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) and the Mass Spectrometer and Incoherent Scatter atmospheric model extended version (MSIS-E-90).
URL: IRI: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/model/models/iri.html
URL: MSIS: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/model/models/msis.html
The Science Information Systems Interoperability Conference (SISIC)is a forum for presentations and demonstrations concerning the theme of scientific data management and analysis in a distributed network environment It will be held at the University of Maryland Conference Center in College Park, Maryland, near Washington, DC, on Nov. 6-9, 1995. Detailed information may be obtained from the SISIC WWW site or by contacting Sandie Jones (301-220-1701) or Jim Thieman (301-286-9790)
URL:http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/sisic/sisic.html
A new page has been created whereby a user specifies: any of several deep-space spacecraft (Voyagers, Pioneers, Ulysses, etc.) or planets (Earth and Venus) or comets (XXXX or YYYY); a time span; a coordinate system (ecliptic or inertial or corotating heliographic); a time resolution (one day or longer); and a time span. The user is then provided a listing of the appropriate radial distance, latitude, and longitude values.
URL:http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/helios/heli.html
Some of NSSDC's interplanetary COHO data have been modeled as three- dimensional (3-D) visualizations. The 3-D representations of the data sets are available in both GIF and in the new Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) format. Each model represents a spacecraft's trajectory (x,y,z position) in the solar system and the color value of this trajectory represents the change in a measurement such as plasma velocity or temperature along its path.
URL: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cohoweb/vrml/coho.html
The NSSDC Photo Gallery has just added a new page for solar images. The Photo Gallery can be accessed at the URL below.
URL: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery.html
NSSDC has now added a page which allows users access to all of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages which we have. These cover FAQs in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Earth Science, and Planetary Science as well as about the NSSDC Photo Gallery and the CD-ROMs which we distribute.
URL: http://nssdc.gsfc .nasa.gov/nssdc/nssdc_faq.html
The Galileo CD-ROM volume 16 is now available at NSSDC. This CD contains all images of the SL-9 collision with Jupiter as seen from Galileo's unique perspective, and also has the images of the asteroid 243 Ida taken during the recent encounter. More information on the CD is available at
URL: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/galileocd16.html.
A complete set of the full-resolution images of SL-9 taken by Galileo is available on-line at
URL: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/sl9/html/gal_cd_images.html
The National Research Council has organized a study, chaired by R. Stephen Berry of the University of Chicago, to investigate issues in the flow of scientific data across national boundaries. The study is being performed under the auspices of the U.S. National Committee for CODATA, an NRC-organized committee. In order to obtain broad input from users and suppliers of scientific data, the study committee has developed an "Inquiry to Interested Parties" requesting information on barriers to data access, pricing of data, protection of intellectual property, problems of less developed countries, etc. The survey form is available at http://www.cisti.nrc.ca/codata/welcome.html. Further information on this study is available at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/misc/survey.html.
Volumes 25 and 26 of the International Halley Watch (IHW) CD-ROMs are now available at NSSDC. These volumes contain all the Comet Halley spacecraft encounter data and images from the armada of IHW spacecraft: Giotto, ICE, Sakigake, Suisei, and Vega 1 and 2. These 2 volumes, which complete the 26 volume IHW CD-ROM collection, are sold as a set. Information on the CDs, sample images, software, and ordering details are available on the IHW Volume 25/26 page at NSSDC.
The Life Sciences Data Archive is happy to announce the release of the Life Sciences Digital Image Library (DIL) prototype. The DIL is a searchable database of images cataloged by experiments, missions, research areas, personnel, hardware and keywords. The DIL contains over 100 images (with more being added daily) related to Life Sciences Spacelab missions, Space Shuttle experiments, future programs and flights, and historical manned space flights. Images are can be downloaded in JPEG format for your use.
The DIL is being developed and maintained by the Life Sciences Data Archive Project at the NSSDC and the Johnson Space Center and is available from the Life Sciences at the NSSDC Homepage or at:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/life/dil/
We have new Apollo 13 pages available, including information on the accident.
The Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA) is happy to announce the release of their Homepage on the web. The Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA) archives and distributes results of the NASA Life and Biomedical Sciences and Applications Division, space flight research program. This NASA Division studies the effect of space flight and microgravity (weightlessness) on living systems, and is developing a scientific and technical foundation for humans to explore space. The LSDA provides a repository of space life sciences data and access to data and information for future experiment planning and retrospective data analysis.
NSSDC has played the lead role in developing this LSDA WWW page, and continues to interact with NASA/JSC and NASA/ARC personnel in the overall LSDA development.
The URL for the LSDA WWW system is:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/life/life_home.html
COHOWeb is a WWW-based data visualization and retrieval interface to a uniformized version of NSSDC's deep space Coordinated Heliospheric Observations (COHO) data.
COHOWeb provides access to a common set of hourly resolution magnetic field, plasma, and ephemeris parameters from the Ulysses, Voyagers 1 and 2, Pioneer 10 and 11, Pioneer Venus, and Helios 1 and 2 spacecraft. COHOWeb also provides access to the same parameters from the near-Earth OMNI dataset, with heliocentric Earth positions. Common coordinates systems are used throughout.
COHOWeb allows the user to select a subset from the available data to view or retrieve. It also provides a graphical browsing capability to visualize the data as times series plots, which was designed to assist users in following trends in the data and isolate areas of interest.
The URL for the COHOWeb data system is: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cohoweb/cw.html
J. Mathews
The content of the NSSDC WWW system has been made searchable. Users may visit the search page at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wais/search and search the content of all web pages using words or phrases. After entering the word or phrase, the system will return a list of URLs for pages containing those words or phrases.
The search system will be fine tuned in the future, therefore comments about the performance of this implementation is encouraged.
On February 14, 1996, the giant "comet" Chiron will reach perihelion for the first time since 1945. The object is starting to show increased activity as it approaches the Sun. Information about Chiron and the Chiron Perihelion Campaign is available on the NSSDC Planetary pages.
This CD-ROM contains the atmospheric/ionospheric data of the AE-C, D, and E satellites and related atmospheric/ionospheric/magnetospheric models and software. The data represent the Unified Abstract (UA) 15-sec time resolution format as originally compiled by the AE team covering the time period from December 16, 1973 to June 6, 1981. Also included are solar EUV data and reference spectra from the AE EUV spectrometer and latest neutral atmosphere data as provided by A. Hedin (GSFC). All data files on the CD-ROM are in ASCII format.
The following models are included on the CD-ROM: the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 1994, the COSPAR International Reference Atmosphere (CIRA) 1986, the Mass Spectrometer and Incoherent Scatter (MSIS) thermospheric model 1986, the MSIS Extended [down to ground level] (MSISE) model 1990, the Horizontal Wind Model (HWM) 1993, the Tobiska solar EUV model, the Inter- national Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) 1945-1995, and the GEO_CGM conversion software from geographic to corrected geomagnetic coordinates and vice versa.
Please consult the README and DOC files on the CD-ROM for more information about the data and models. General information about the AE-C, -D, and -E satellites and experiments and their performance over time can be found in the GENERAL.DOC file in the main directory. Details of the CD-ROM structure and content are described in the CONTENT.DOC file.
The CD also contains the experiment/data descriptions provided by the respective PI teams and the satellite/experiment brief descriptions from NSSDC's Master Catalog (see directory AEDOC). The AEDOC directory includes in addition a 150 page listing of scientific papers based on AE data (ordered by experiment and name of first author).
NSSDC has just completed a major update to the interplanetary OMNIfile which underlies the OMNIWeb and NODIS/OMNI systems. Magnetic filed data were updated to 94/179 (YY/DDD), plasma data to 94/365, and energetic particle data to 94/346. These updates are based on the IMP-8 experiments of R. Lepping/GSFC, A. Lazarus/MIT, and T. Armstrong/U.Kansas, respectively. In addition, Kp and Rz activity indices were updated to 95/031.
New Lunar Exploration pages are available from NSSDC. These pages have information from early lunar missions such as Luna, Ranger, and Surveyor to the future Lunar Prospector mission. The pages have links to the NASA Master Catalog with detailed information on lunar data available at NSSDC.
NSSDC has produced two sets of CD-ROMs containing 0.5-sec resolution electric and magnetic field data from NASA's Dynamics Explorer-2 spacecraft. This spacecraft was in a low altitude (300-600 km), near polar (89.9 deg) orbit. Data cover the period August 15, 1981, to February 16, 1983.
The data are found on a set of two IBM/PC-binary CD-ROMs, and also on a set of four ASCII CD-ROMs. MS-DOS data-retrieve-and-display software is available for the binary version. The ASCII version was created for users without MS-DOS availability.
Detailed description and Ordering information
The Planetary Data System has produced an educational CD-ROM, "Welcome to the Planets", consisting of 190 selected images acquired over approximately 20 years of NASA planetary exploration. The CD is now available from NSSDC. The images cover all the planets in the solar system, as well as images of comets, asteroids, meteorites, lunar samples, moons of other planets, and spacecraft.
Further information on these CD's is available from NSSDC.
The Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) was launched on February 20, 1993 and is a joint Japanese and U.S. mission. The purpose of the ASCA mission is to perform X-Ray astronomical observations in the energy band from 1 to 12 KeV. ASCA carries four large-area X-ray telescopes. At the focus of two of the telescopes is a Gas Imaging Spectrometer (GIS), while a Solid-state Imaging Spectrometer (SIS) is at the focus of the other two telescopes. ASCA is the first X-ray mission to combine imaging capability with a broad passband, good spectral resolution, and a large effective area. The mission is also the first satellite to use CCDs for X-ray astronomy. The primary scientific purpose of ASCA is the X-ray spectroscopy of astrophysical plasmas.
ASCA Data which were obtained during the first 8 month Performance Verification period are now being archived at the NSSDC and are available through the NASA Data Archive and Distribution Service (NDADS). The first 61 individual data-sets (unique observations sequences) became public on November 15, 1994 and an additional 36 data-sets were released to the public on December 15, 1994. The ASCA data on NDADS and related information can be accessed via the WWW using Mosaic. The URL for the ASCA NSSDC page is:
http://nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov/asca/asca_nssdc.html
The ASCA data are also available through the online service of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC). Information on how to access the ASCA archive is available through the ASCA Guest Observer Facility (GOF) at GSFC. The URL for the ASCA GOF is:
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/0/docs/asca/ascagof.html
N. Oliversen
OMNIWeb is a WWW-based interface that allows users to graphically browse OMNI data prior to retrieving it. The data may be retrieved as an ASCII listing or binary format for a number of machines. It also permits users to copy the data directly to their computer or stage it for FTP. OMNIWeb requires a graphical WWW browser that supports "forms" for full use. OMNIWeb can be accessed from the URL below.
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/omniweb/ow.html
Contrary to an alarm raised on a national radio show on December 9, the NSSDC photo-archive is not shutting down. All the film products which have been accessible through NSSDC over the years will continue to be accessible via request to NSSDC. Some film products are being moved internally to accommodate building modifications. Some months ago, NSSDC's photoprocessing facility was shut down as an economy measure; NSSDC now has its photoprocessing work done by another photoprocessing facility at Goddard. NSSDC is now working with Johnson Space Center to replenish some of its photo-stock from early Apollo missions. Customers of NSSDC's photo-archive should encounter no significant adverse support from any of these changes, and will benefit from some.
NSSDC's Astronomy and Astrophysics Home Page offers information about online data and services, including access to a WAIS-searchable index of more than 700 astronomical catalogs; high-level project descriptions for such projects as ASCA, ROSAT, Astro 1, EUVE, HST, and COBE; and links to many other popular astronomy and astrophysics resources.
The NSSDC Common Data Format (CDF) staff has recently developed a CDF Home Page (URL http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cdf/cdf_home.html ) that is accessible from both the NSSDC and the GSFC Home Pages. The CDF Home Page provides informational services such as a CDF Tech Brief, a list of FAQ's, and the status of the most recent operational version of the software. In addition, the home page provides access to the CDFSupport office via an automated mailing system and to the anonymous ftp accounts from which the software and documentation can be copied.
The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite was developed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to measure the diffuse infrared and microwave radiation from the early universe, to the limits set by our astrophysical environment. It was launched November 18, 1989 and carried three instruments, a Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) to compare the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation with a precise blackbody, a Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) to map the cosmic radiation precisely, and a Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) to search for the cosmic infrared background radiation. More information about the COBE mission and instruments is available either by anonymous ftp in the "cobe" directory at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov (128.183.36.23), or from the World Wide Web at the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address below. The latter is recommended if you have access to a Mosaic-like client.
http://bolero.gsfc.nasa.gov/astro/cobe/cobe_home.html
D. Leisawitz
The NSSDC is pleased to announce the official release of the NSSDC News using the WWW. NSSDC News is published quarterly by NASA's National Space Science Data Center.
The U.S.G.S. has produced a set of digital full-resolution radar maps (FMAPS) of Venus from the Magellan SAR data. The URL for the page describing the Magellan FMAPS is below.
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/venusfmaps.html
The National Space Science Data Center at the Goddard Space Flight Center has moved its World-Wide Web pages to a new server. This is part of a continuing effort to improve our services to the science community and the general public. A page with forwarding address has been left on the old server. In the next few months, all previous version pages on the old server will be deleted. Please make sure to update your links to the new server accordingly.
Users should notice an improvement in the access time for pages and well as faster download times. We welcome your suggestions and comments as we continue to evolve our WWW systems. Send your ideas and comments directly to the developer of the page. The developer contact information usually appears below the NSSDC logo.
The URL for the new NSSDC home page is
NSSDC has just created two sets of CD-ROMs holding 0.5-sec MAGSAT magnetometer data for the November 1979 to May 1980 period. One set consists of two disks holding binary-formatted data, and the other set has three ASCII-formatted disks. Both sets hold time, spacecraft position data and an attitude quality flag, and magnetic field components (N-S, E-W, up-down).
An MS-DOS-compatible software package has been developed for use with the 2-binary-disk set; this package creates ASCII files for display and further analysis, using user-specified selection parameters. This software is available on mailed diskette, or by electronic (FTP) downloading from NSSDC.
The binary set of CD's has been factory-replicated, in anticipation of significant use in the MS-DOS environment. The ASCII disks are provided for persons without MS-DOS, and will be written at NSSDC on request. (The CD-Recordable disks holding the ASCII data are just as addressible from a standard CD-ROM drive as are the factory- replicated disks.)
NSSDC charges persons other than NASA-funded researchers the incremental costs of satisfying a request. The pair of binary disks cost $26, plus shipping ($2.50 domestic or $10 foreign), plus $9 for a software diskette if ordered. The set of three ASCII CD-Recordable disks is $219 plus shipping.
To order either of these sets, please contact NSSDC's Coordinated Request and User Support Office (CRUSO) at REQUEST@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV, at 301-286-6695 or -1771 (FAX), or at Code 633.4, GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, 20117. NSSDC/CRUSO accepts credit cards, or checks in U.S. dollars on a U.S. bank made out to Hughes/STX Coorporation.
The MAGSAT CD-ROMs were created at NSSDC primarily by Dr. Natalia Papitashvili, with advice from Drs. Robert Langel and Michael Purucker of the GSFC MAGSAT team.
Considered to be the planetary event of the decade, Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 will collide (all 21 pieces of it) with the planet Jupiter. Read all about it on NSSDC's Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 page. Or you can find out about this and other events by checking out NSSDC's Planetary Science Home Page. Please note that the latest estimated impact times are available.
The NSSDC is proud to announce its first step to making its extensive photo archives accessible via the Web. The NSSDC Photo Gallery is a collection of images taken from various missions (primarily planetary at this time). Some of the photos on these pages have never before been seen as they have been produced by NSSDC staff members. Some are familiar favorites. This gallery is expected grow extensively in the coming months as our archives are converted.
The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) is happy to announce that the references from the 1990-1992 Review of Radio Science is online and available for anonymous FTP transfer from the data system at NSSDC. Permission to place the references online was granted by Ross Stone, Editor.
The Commission letter designator, Commission Name, the file for the references in the Commissions and the file sizes in bytes are given below:
Commission File_name Size A Electromagnetic Metrology A_REF.TXT 212k B Fields and Waves B_REF.TXT 800k C Signals and Systems C_REF.TXT 328k D Electronics and Photonics D_REF.TXT 531k E Electromagnetic Noise and Interference E_REF.TXT 122k F Wave Propagation and Remote Sensing F_REF.TXT 415k G Ionospheric Radio and Propagation G_REF.TXT 392k H Waves in Plasmas H_REF.TXT 376k J Radio Astronomy J_REF.TXT 634k K Electromagnetics in Biology and Medicine K_REF.TXT 186kThe URL for use with World Wide Web is:
http://nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov/htbin/htdir/anon_dir/multidis/
To use anonymous FTP:
To log in to the ANONYMOUS FTP account at NSSDC:
FTP NSSDCA
LOGIN ANONYMOUS
PASSWORD my_full_email_address
To change to the URSI references directory
CD multidis
To list the directory
DIR
To change to the Commission H directory, for example
CD ursi_h
To go back up a directory level
CD ..
To copy the Commission H references file, for example
GET ursi_h file_name_on_your_computer
To quit
QUIT
README files, which describe the reference lists, are also online.
The access was arranged and the files were organized and uploaded by William W. L. Taylor, Nichols Research Corporation, Arlington, VA, USA, who was also the USA Editor for the Commission H references. His email address is:
wtaylor@nhqvax.hq.nasa.gov
The OMNIfile of multi-source solar wind field,plasma, and energetic particle data was updated in 6/94 by the addition of IMP-8 IMF data to the end of 1993, and IMP-8 plasma data into January 1994. OMNIfile is accessible from the space physics option of NODIS, and soon from the space physics option on the NSSDC Home Page.
Nathan L. James, nate.james@gsfc.nasa.gov, +1-301-286-9789
Code 633, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Ed Bell, ed.bell@gsfc.nasa.gov, +1-301-286-1187
Code 633, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA