Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 25
Assessment of Solar System Exploration Programs 1991 (Chapter 7)
Assessment of Solar System Exploration Programs
1991
7
Data Management and
Computation Issues in
Planetary Science
A former committee of the Space Science Board, the Committee on Data
Management and Computation (CODMAC), published a series of reports
between 1982 and 1988 (SSB, 1982, 1986c, 1988a). Their recommendations
were designed to facilitate scientific progress using data returned from NASA
missions. The committee also made recommendations about the types of and
access to computational resources needed to carry out NASA missions.
COMPLEX restates here the following subset of CODMAC
recommendations to ensure that past efforts partly initiated by CODMAC be
continued:
REPORT MENU
NOTICE
MEMBERSHIP
1. Active involvement of scientists must exist in all phases of data
FOREWORD
management planning.
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
2. Data must be made available to the scientists—
CHAPTER 2
a. in a usable format,
CHAPTER 3
b. in a format in which multiple data sets can be compared, and
CHAPTER 4
c. in a timely manner.
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7 3. Scientific data should be annotated and stored in a permanent and
CHAPTER 8
retrievable form.
CHAPTER 9
REFERENCES
4. Adequate financial resources to analyze mission data should be set
aside and protected from loss due to cost overruns in NASA's flight programs.
A significant product of the first three of these recommendations is the
Planetary Data System (PDS), which archives and distributes digital data from
past and ongoing planetary missions. The purpose of the PDS is to facilitate
access to multiple data sets by planetary scientists, who have had an active role
file:///C|/SSB_old_web/ssep91ch7.htm (1 of 3) [6/18/2004 1:58:30 PM]
OCR for page 26
Assessment of Solar System Exploration Programs 1991 (Chapter 7)
in the design of the data system to ensure its utility. COMPLEX will continue to
monitor the progress of the PDS to measure its contribution to meeting the
scientific objectives of solar system exploration.
During the lifetime of CODMAC, a revolution in computer networking
occurred. The ability to communicate with colleagues via electronic mail and to
transport data among computers has speeded scientific progress. At this time the
networks are a great facilitator of science.
The Data analysis programs supported by the Solar System Exploration
Division are designed to provide adequate resources to analyze data from
spacecraft missions. As part of the Research and Analysis program, the Data
Analysis programs continue to be subject to cuts due to programmatic taxes and
cost overruns in flight programs.
Another issue that CODMAC addressed was access to supercomputers.
We note that the National Science Foundation has provided access to
supercomputers that has enabled computational studies in planetary sciences,
but that there is a need for scientists to have local workstations to carry out those
aspects of their work not requiring supercomputers, such as data storage and
display.
file:///C|/SSB_old_web/ssep91ch7.htm (2 of 3) [6/18/2004 1:58:30 PM]
