Planetary Data System: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Data archive for NASA solar system missions}}

{{Infobox organization

| name = Planetary Data System (PDS)

| image =

| caption =

| abbreviation = PDS

| formation =

| type = Distributed data system

| purpose = Data archiving for Solar System missions

| headquarters =

| ___location = United States

| parent_organization = NASA Headquarters' Planetary Sciences Division

| website =

| dissolved =

}}

The '''Planetary Data System''' ('''PDS''') is a distributed data system that [[NASA]] uses to archive data collected by [[Solar System]] missions.

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==PDS archiving philosophy==

The main objective of the PDS is to maintain a planetary data archive that will withstand the test of time such that future generations of scientists can access, understand and use preexisting planetary data. The PDS tries to ensure compatibility of the archive by adhering to strict standards of storage media, archiving formats, and required documentation.<ref name="roadmap"/>{{rp|15}}

===Storage media===

One critical component of the PDS archive is the storage media. The data must be stored effectively and efficiently with no degradation of the data over the archive's lifespan. Therefore, the physical media must have large capacity and must remain readable over many years. PDS is migrating toward electronic storage as its "standard" media.<ref name="pdsarch">{{cite book|title=PDS Standards Reference|chapter=Chapter 11. Media Formats for Data Submission and Archive

|url=https://pds.nasa.gov/datastandards/pds3/standards/sr/Chapter11.pdf|publisher=NASA|access-date=January 28, 2023}}</ref>

===Archiving formats===

The format of the data is also important. In general, transparent, non-proprietary formats are best. When a proprietary format is submitted to the archive (such as a [[Microsoft Word]] document) an accompanying plain text file is also required. It is assumed that the scientists of the future will at least be able to make sense of regular [[ASCII]] bytes even if the proprietary software and support ceases to exist. PDS allows figures and illustrations to be included in the archive as individual images. PDS adheres to many other standards including, but not limited to, special directory and file naming conventions and label requirements. Each file in the PDS archive is accompanied by a searchable label (attached or detached) that describes the file content.<ref name="pdsarch"/>

===Archiving documents===

The archive must be complete and be able to stand alone. There is no guarantee that the people who originally worked with and submitted the data to the archive will be available in the future to field questions regarding the data, its calibration or the mission. Therefore, the archive must include good descriptive documentation of how the spacecraft and its instruments worked, how the data were collected and calibrated, and what the data mean. The quality of the documentation is examined during a mission independent PDS peer review.<ref>{{cite web |title=PDS -– Guidelines for Archiving |url=https://pds.nasa.gov/home/proposers/archiving/|publisher=NASA |access-date=January 29, 2023 |publisher=NASA}}</ref>

==Nodes==

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* Ring-Moon Systems Node – handles archiving, cataloging, and distributing planetary data of ring systems, moons, and planets<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ring-Moon Systems Node Home |url=https://pds-rings.seti.org/ |access-date=2022-09-08 |website=pds-rings.seti.org}}</ref> ([[SETI Institute]])

* Small Bodies Node (SBN) – handles asteroid, comet and planetary dust data<ref>{{cite web|title=NASA PDS: Small Bodies Node|url=https://pds-smallbodies.astro.umd.edu/|publisher=University of Maryland|access-date=January 28, 2023}}</ref> ([[University of Maryland, College Park]])

** [[Comet]] Subnode ([[University of Maryland, College Park]])

** [[Asteroid]]/[[Interplanetary dust cloud|Interplanetary Dust]] Subnode ([[Planetary Science Institute]])

===Support nodes===

* Engineering Node – provides systems engineering support to the PDS ([[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Planetary Data SysteSystem - Engineering Node|url=https://pds-engineering.jpl.nasa.gov/|website=NASA JPL

|access-date=January 28, 2023}}</ref>

* Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) Node – maintains the [[Space Planet Instrument C-matrix Events|SPICE]] information system ([[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]])<ref>{{cite web|title=The Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility|url=https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/index.html

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The PDS Management Council serves as the technical policy board of the PDS, and provides findings for NASA with respect to planetary science data management, ensures coordination among the nodes, guarantees responsiveness to customer needs, and monitors the appropriate uses of evolving information technologies that may make PDS tasks both more efficient and more cost effective.<ref>{{Cite web|title = PDS: PDS Requirements|url = https://pds.nasa.gov/roadmap/pds_level123_requirements_20170420.pdf|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170426223209/https://pds.nasa.gov/roadmap/pds_level123_requirements_20170420.pdf|url-status = dead|archive-date = 2017-04-26|website = pds.nasa.gov|access-date = 2017-08-16}}</ref> It is formed by the [[principal investigator]]s of the science discipline nodes, along with the leaders of the Technical Support Nodes, the Project Manager, and Deputy Project Manager.<ref name="roadmap"/>{{rp|39}}

The [[Solar System]] Exploration Data Services Office at the [[Goddard Space Flight Center]] handles PDS Project Management.<ref>{{Cite web|title = PDS: PDS Organization|url = https://pds.nasa.gov/about/organization.shtml|website = pds.nasa.gov|access-date = 2015-10-16|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170513014603/https://pds.nasa.gov/about/organization.shtml|archive-date = 2017-05-13|url-status = dead}}</ref>

==Roadmap 2017–2026==