Facilities for Research and Analysis

Distributed throughout the various program element descriptions within the ROSES 2008 call appear short descriptions of various facilities (laboratories, data archives, supercomputing centers, etc.) that are available to proposers. We have collected these here in one place for your convenience.

Venus Pressure Test Chamber: A working Venus pressure test chamber has been recently acquired and is located at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. It will be made available to the Venus scientific community and others for testing of small flight components/instruments and short-term experiments that require high temperatures and pressures. The chamber was developed by Dr. William Byrd at Iowa State University through the Iowa Space Grant Consortium.

The chamber is able to maintain a temperature of 740K and pressure of 95.6 bar for ~48 hours under a carbon dioxide atmosphere. The dimensions of the chamber are five inches in diameter and twelve inches deep. The actual working space is expected to be slightly smaller because of volume taken up by monitoring sensors. The chamber is currently being tested and calibrated. Viewing ports and/or thoughputs for data and power will eventually be installed as options. Running at temperatures and pressures lower than those found at the surface of Venus are possible. Details about the Venus Pressure Test Chamber will be presented at the VEXAG meeting scheduled for October 28-29, 2009.

For more information please contact Dr. Natasha Johnson, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center

Airborne Science: Any proposed activities requiring NASA aircraft or NASA facility sensors, proposers should submit a Flight Request to the Airborne Science Flight Request system at http://airbornescience.nasa.gov (and then click on "FLIGHT REQUEST"). Questions regarding the flight request system or process should be addressed to Marilyn Vasques, Flight Request Manager, at Marilyn.Vasques(at)nasa.gov or telephone 650-604-6120.

Curatorial Facility: An important goal of the Planetary Science Research Program is to facilitate access to data and extraterrestrial sample material for scientific and educational purposes, in addition to NASA-supported research projects. NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, is responsible for the security of and access to all returned extraterrestrial samples, as well as the interplanetary dust particles collected by high-altitude aircraft and the meteorites collected in the Antarctic by field parties supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). For information on how to obtain any of the specimens in these collections, see http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov or contact:

Convection And Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX) Data: For more than a decade, the NASA Convection And Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX) series of field campaigns have provided a wealth of new research findings into the genesis, intensity change, and 3D multi-scale structure of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Pacific ocean basins. The CAMEX sequence (CAMEX-3, 1998; CAMEX-4, 2001; TCSP, 2005; NAMMA, 2006) has also consistently provided a test-bed for new remote sensing technologies for satellite and aircraft platforms, retrieval algorithms, and predictive model developments. The scientific focus on intensity change is particularly timely in light of the current heightened era of Atlantic-basin storm activity and the continuing challenges of accurately forecasting tropical cyclone intensity. The data from these field experiments is archived at the following sites:

Planetary Aeolian Facility: The Planetary Aeolian Facility at the NASA Ames Research Center consists of wind tunnels to simulate atmosphere-surface interactions on Earth, Mars, and Venus.

For more information contact:

Reflectance Experiment Laboratory (RELAB): The RELAB facility at Brown University provides a mechanism for researchers to obtain laboratory spectra of geologic materials for use in compositional and/or geologic applications. NASA supports the RELAB as a multiuser spectroscopy facility and laboratory time can be made available at no charge to investigators funded by NASA programs. If the proposed research requires new spectra in the VIS/NIR or mid IR, the scope and justification must be provided in the proposal. Information on this facility, a RELAB User's Manual and sample submittal forms, and access to RELAB spectroscopy data can be found at: http://www.planetary.brown.edu/relab/

For assistance contact:

NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range (AVGR): The NASA AVGR is a national facility funded by the NASA Science Mission Directorate to enable investigations of impact phenomena and processes. Exploratory or proof-of-concept programs requiring a limited number of experiments can be accommodated at no cost. More extensive programs are subject to review in order to assess feasibility and cost effectiveness.

For more information, potential users of the AVGR should contact:

NASA-Provided High-End Computing (HEC) Resources: Those investigators whose research requires high-performance computing should refer to the Summary of Solicitation, Section I(d), “NASA-Provided High-End Computing Resources.” This section describes the opportunity for successful proposers to request computing time from NASA's High-End Computing Program, which awards time at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility and the NASA Center for Climate Simulation.

General Lunar and Planetary Information: The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) is the most concentrated and readily accessible source of information in lunar and planetary science. Information about its services can be found on the LPI home page at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/ and/or contact:

Data from Completed NASA Flight Programs: The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) archives digital and other data from completed flight experiments. Such data include lunar and planetary photographs, digital planetary images, data from numerous flight experiments, and lunar cartographic products. Investigators are responsible for acquiring the data needed for their proposal. Modest requests for imaging and nonimaging data are free of charge, while charges will be made for large requests. Requests from U.S. investigators for data products and information may be made to:

Requests from non-U.S. investigators for NSSDC data products and product availability information may be made to:

Planetary Cartographic Products: A variety of planetary cartographic products such as topographic, orthophoto, geological, and other special maps and geodetic information are available. Requests from NASA-funded investigators for production of special maps or other cartographic materials will be accommodated when possible. Request available data or specific maps from:

Request information related to the availability of base maps and materials or U.S. Geological Survey criteria for map publication through http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/DataAndInformation/ImagesAndMaps/ and/or

Regional Planetary Image Facilities: Regional Planetary Image Facilities (RPIFs) contain nearly half a million images of the planets and their satellites taken both from Earth and manned and unmanned spacecraft, as well as topographic and geologic maps produced from these images. The RPIFs, located at institutions worldwide, are intended for use by individuals and groups who use photographic and cartographic materials of the planets and satellites in their research programs. These programs include geologic, photometric, colorimetric, photogrammetric, and atmospheric dynamical studies.

In addition to the local scientists and their associates who use these data on a daily basis, investigators throughout the world are encouraged to use the RPIFs. Send inquiries to the nearest facility in care of the Director, Regional Planetary Image Facility. Note that, while these centers may be used for on-site study and selection of planetary and satellite images, they are not facilities for the production of photographs for users. Instead, such materials may be obtained from the NSSDC at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center at the address given above. Additional information, including a listing of RPIF locations worldwide, can be found on the RPIF home page at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/library/RPIF.

Digital Planetary Image Data: Digital planetary image data are available through the PDS. The Planetary Data System/Imaging Node can be found at http://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/. Submit requests for imaging data and support documentation to:

The Planetary Data System/Geosciences Node can be found at http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/. Requests for other planetary geoscience data may be submitted to:


Please direct questions or corrections on this page to SARA@nasa.gov

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