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Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX (2008) 1775.pdf

THE PDS GEOSCIENCES NODE ARCHIVES OF TERRESTRIAL PLANETARY DATA. S. Slavney, E. A. Guinness, and T. C. Stein, McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University, 1 Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1169, St. Louis, Missouri, 63130, [email protected].

Introduction: The Geosciences Node of NASA’s Thirty-one data sets from the rovers’ many instruments Planetary Data System (PDS) is working with several are delivered every 90 sols, roughly every three NASA missions to , Mercury, and the ’s months. Moon to ensure that quality science data archives are The Geosciences Node also hosts data sets from produced and made available to the user community. past Mars missions, including Viking and Mars Global Background: The Geosciences Node is one of Surveyor. In addition to data from NASA missions, the several discipline-oriented nodes of the PDS which Node also hosts copies of data sets from the European serves both producers and users of planetary science Space Agency’s mission, by special data. The Geosciences Node works directly with the agreement with ESA. mission instrument teams to help them design and Data from New and Upcoming Missions: The document their data products. The Node receives data Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) released its first during the mission, archives it for the long term, and data to PDS in June 2007 and continues with a release provides public online access to its holdings. every three months. The Geosciences Node archives Data Holdings: Science payloads on planetary raw and calibrated data from the imaging spectrometer missions typically include a suite of instruments that (CRISM), the shallow radar instrument (SHARAD), collect several different types of data sets. The Geos- and the radio science experiment. As of January 2008 ciences Node is responsible for archiving the data sets the Geosciences Node has archived about four tera- that are related to the study of surfaces and interiors of bytes of data from MRO. terrestrial planets, including geology, geophysics, and The Lander was launched in August 2007 data. These types of data include reflec- and will arrive at Mars in May 2008. Data from its tance spectra, thermal inertia, gamma ray spectra, neu- Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) and the tron spectra, Mössbauer spectra, alpha particle X-ray Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Ana- spectra, radar, laser altimetry, and radio science data. lyzer (MECA) experiments will be archived at the Figure 1 shows a timeline of data releases from all Geosciences Node beginning in December 2008. NASA planetary missions that are archived by the The (MSL) is the next Geosciences Node. The 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, . It is scheduled to be launched in fall 2009 now in its second extended mission, delivers seven and will carry several science experiments. The Geos- GRS data sets and raw Radio Science data to the ciences Node will archive data from the Alpha Particle Geosciences Node every three months. Deliveries will X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), the Chemistry and Mi- continue until early 2009 unless the mission is further cro-Imaging experiment (ChemCam), the Chemistry extended. and Mineralogy XRD/XRF (CheMin), the Dynamic The two Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) have Albedo of Neutrons (DAN), and the Sample Analysis now operated for more than 1400 sols (Martian days), at Mars (SAM) experiment, a mass spectrometer, laser although the original mission plan was for 90 sols. spectrometer and gas chromatograph. MSL also carries

Figure 1. Timeline of PDS Geosciences Node data releases from current and future NASA planetary missions. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX (2008) 1775.pdf

several cameras, a radiation detector, and a meteoro- Where to Get the Data: All data archived in PDS logical station. are available to the public. The Geosciences Node The MESSENGER mission was launched in 2004 maintains its holdings online at its web site, http://pds- to Mercury, on a journey that includes one flyby of geosciences.wustl.edu/. The site allows the user to Earth, two of Venus, and three of Mercury before set- browse through data sets sorted by planet and mission, tling into Mercury’s in March 2011. The Geos- and to download selected data products. Announce- ciences Node is archiving data from the X-Ray Spec- ments of new data releases are shown in the “What’s trometer (XRS), Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), New” section of the home page. Interested users may Gamma Ray (GRS) and Neutron (NS) Spectrometers, sign up for email notification of new releases of data Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spec- sets by using the “Subscription Manager” service on trometer (MASCS, shared with the PDS Atmospheres the PDS web site, http://pds.nasa.gov/. Node), and the Radio Science experiment. Tools for Data Search and Access: The PDS of- MESSENGER data releases are scheduled based on fers a data search capability for all PDS holdings, in- mission events. Data from the Earth and Venus flybys cluding those at the Geosciences Node. See the “Data are currently available. Data from the first Mercury Search” service at http://pds.nasa.gov/. The Geos- flyby will be released in July 2008. ciences Node provides the following specialized The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will be search services for particular data sets. launched in October 2008. Its archives at the Geos- The MER Analyst’s Notebook integrates raw and ciences Node will include data from a laser altimeter derived science data with daily mission activity plans, (LOLA), neutron detector (LEND), radiometer (Divin- site and traverse maps, quick-look data, and other re- er), and synthetic aperture radar (Mini-RF). The first sources. [1] Additional Analyst’s Notebooks will be LRO data will be released in April 2009. Piggybacking developed to support the Phoenix and MSL archives. on the LRO launch vehicle is the LCROSS experiment The Orbital Data Explorer (ODE) allows cross- (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite), instrument and cross-mission searches of Mars orbital which will drop an empty fuel tank onto the lunar sur- data sets. [2] An upgrade to include lunar orbital data face and observe the impact with a suite of cameras is planned in support of the first LRO release in 2009. and spectrometers, before impacting itself. The CRISM Spectral Library is a collection of la- The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory boratory spectra of Mars-analog materials to support (GRAIL) mission will consist of a pair of spacecraft the analysis of CRISM data. Spectra may be selected, launched in 2011 to measure the Moon’s gravity field. plotted online, and downloaded. Although archive planning has not yet begun, the The GRS Data Node, a satellite of the Geosciences Geosciences Node expects to archive some or all of the Node, allows user-customized queries of Odyssey GRAIL data. Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS) data sets. In addition to NASA lunar missions, the Geos- Contact Information: The Geosciences Node ciences Node will also archive data from the Mini-RF welcomes questions and comments from the user radar instrument on the Indian lunar orbiter Chan- community. Please send email to geos- drayaan-1, to be launched in 2008. [email protected]. In all, the Geosciences Node hosts a total of ap- References: [1] Stein T. et al. (2008), The MER proximately nine terabytes of data in 150 data sets Analyst’s Notebook, LPS XXXIX. [2] Bennett K. et al. from 19 missions, along with data from Earth-based (2008) Accessing Mars Data Using PDS Geosciences and laboratory experiments. Node’s Orbital Data Explorer, LPS XXXIX.

Table 1. Links mentioned in this abstract

PDS Geosciences Node web site pds-geosciences.wustl.edu PDS Home Page pds.nasa.gov Odyssey GRS Data Node grspds.lpl.arizona.edu MER Analyst’s Notebook pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/meran MRO CRISM Spectral Library pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/mro/spectral_library.htm Orbital Data Explorer ode.rsl.wustl.edu/mars/ Geosciences Node email contact [email protected]