The Earth as seen from space.

Open Science at NASA

NASA is making a long-term commitment to building an inclusive open science community over the next decade. Open-source science is a commitment to the open sharing of software, data, and knowledge (algorithms, papers, documents, ancillary information) as early as possible in the scientific process.

Open Principles

The principles of open-source science are to make publicly funded scientific research transparent, inclusive, accessible, and reproducible. Advances in technology, including collaborative tools and cloud computing, help enable open-source science, but technology alone is insufficient. Open-source science requires a culture shift to a more inclusive, transparent, and collaborative scientific process, which will increase the pace and quality of scientific progress.

Open science Facts

Open Transparent Science
Scientific processes and results should be open such that they are reproducible by members of the community.

Open Inclusive Science
Process and participants should welcome participation by and collaboration with diverse people and organizations.

Open Accessible Science
Data, tools, software, documentation, and publications should be accessible to all (FAIR).

Open Reproducible Science
Scientific process and results should be open such that they are reproducible by members of the community.

Learn More About Open Science

NASA’s Transform to Open Science (TOPS) initiative helps people understand and implement open science practices in their own work. This initiative created Open Science 101, a free online training course to give researchers, academics, and the public a practical working knowledge of open science principles. 

Take Open Science 101
Students sit in front of a panel of speakers at the Kennedy Space Center.

Why Do Open Science?

●  Broadens participation and fosters greater collaboration in scientific investigations by lowering the barriers to entry into scientific exploration
●  Generates greater impact and more citations to scientific results

Learn More About the Benefits of Open Science
A woman wearing a lab coat and looking through a microscope.

Open Science Features and Events

Lights brighten the night sky in this image of Europe

AI for Earth: How NASA’s Artificial Intelligence and Open Science Efforts Combat Climate Change

NASA and IBM Research teamed up to create an AI foundation model trained on Earth satellite data. The resulting tool will supercharge research into climate disasters.

Read Article
Photo of West African coast from space, showing turquoise water, green coastal areas and tan desert.

Pale Blue Dot: Visualization Challenge Winners Announced

Five international teams took home top honors in a challenge to use open data to create visualizations highlighting the themes of zero hunger, clean water, and climate action.

Read Article
Hubble is framed by a blue and cloudy Earth as astronauts work on the telescope, one perched on the shuttle's robotic arm.

Register for the 2024 GeneLab Analysis Working Group Symposium!

This free virtual event is open to the public. Attendees will hear about the exciting open science fueling discoveries of how our bodies change and adapt to the unique environment of space.

Register Here
A woman studies the data on a monitor in a low lit Hubble operations room.

Software for the NASA Science Mission Directorate Workshop 2024

This workshop aims to explore the current opportunities and challenges for the various categories of software relevant for activities funded by the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD).

See Event Page

Unveiling the Sun: NASA’s Open Data Approach to Solar Eclipse Research

As the world anticipates the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, NASA is preparing for an extraordinary opportunity for scientific discovery, open collaboration, and public engagement.

Read Article

Explore Open Science at NASA

  • The Transform to Open Science logo, which shows a rocket shaped like a spinning top blasting off against a blue shield-shaped badge.

    Transform to Open Science (TOPS)

    Provides the visibility, advocacy, and community resources to support and enable the shift to open science.

  • The two stars in Wolf-Rayet 140 produce shells of dust

    TOPS Newsletter

    Subscribe to the NASA Transform to Open Science (TOPS) newsletter for information about upcoming open science events and announcements.

  • A group of people sitting around a conference table with their laptops out.

    Core Data and Computing

    The Core Data and Computing Services Program (CDCSP) will provide a layered architecture on which SMD science can scale.

  • A bank of large supercomputers.

    Data and Computing Architecture Study

    The Data and Computing Architecture study will investigate the technology needed to support NASA's open science goals.

  • Four NASA personnel posing next to a large wheeled machine.

    Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

    Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will play an important role in advancing NASA science.

  • A group of people watching a presentation.

    Open-Source Science Awards

    NASA supports open science through call for new innovative programs, supplements to existing awards, and sustainability of software.

  • Two men wearing headsets and operating a bank of computers.

    The NASA Strategy for Open Science

    The Strategy for Data Management and Computing for Groundbreaking Science 2019-2024 was developed through community input and guides NASA’s approach to open science.

  • A presenter giving a Transform to Open Science talk.

    Scientific Information Policy

    The information produced as part of NASA’s scientific research activities represents a significant public investment. Learn more about how and when it should be shared.

  • A close-up of Jupiter's cloud bands.

    Science Mission Directorate Science Data

    The Science Data Repository pages provides a comprehensive list of NASA Science Data Repositories.

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

James Webb Space Telescope

The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The smallest of these are small, distant, and faint points of light. The largest of these appear larger, closer, brighter, and more fully resolved with 8-point diffraction spikes. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The stars vary in color, the majority of which have a blue or orange hue. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range. Three long diffraction spikes from the top right edge of the image suggest the presence of a large star just out of view.

Perseverance Rover

Parker Solar Probe

Juno