NASA Boosts Open Science, Data Sharing with Artemis Accords

oynting crater and Keeler crater are visible side by side in the lower right portion of this image of the Moon’s far side highlands. Poynting, positioned above, is a large impact crater with a well-defined rim and relatively smooth interior, indicative of material that has settled following the initial impact. Just below it, Keeler crater appears slightly smaller, with a sharply outlined rim and a more textured interior shaped by subsequent impacts and ejecta. Both features lie within the densely cratered far side highlands, preserving a record of ancient impacts that have shaped the lunar surface over billions of years.

NASA

The science from every Moon rock sample, lunar dataset, and discovery produced through NASA’s Artemis program will be shared by the agency with the global scientific community. That commitment is upheld by all 71 countries that have signed the Artemis Accords, a set of principles for safe and transparent civil space exploration.

NASA put those principles into practice by hosting 

a two-part virtual workshop series that began July 28 

and concluded Sept. 8, focusing on one key tenet 

of the Artemis Accords: the timely release of scientific data 

to the public and the international scientific community.

“As we return humans to the Moon, our Artemis efforts

 will help us unlock the full potential of scientific discovery 

through transparency, collaboration, and accessibility,” 

said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist at NASA. 

“We are making data, tools, and results freely available,

 and inviting the Artemis Accords partners to innovate with

 us and share their data as well, accelerating our understanding 

of lunar processes and laying the groundwork for human 

space exploration for the Moon, Mars and beyond.”  

The two recent workshops added to discussions led

 by the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) in May, 

when signatories first explored ways to advance open

 data practices and created common ground for deeper 

conversations on open data. NASA split its follow‑on discussion 

about data sharing into two virtual sessions, so technical experts 

around the world could take part.

The agency hosted its first session on open science principles 

and implementation practices. It promoted interoperability

 and collaboration among signatories and advanced reproducibility, 

accessibility, and transparency in scientific work, 

including in NASA’s Artemis program.

The second session focused on tools for open science, 

providing Artemis Accords signatories with a working model 

to reference as they build or refine their own data-sharing frameworks.

“NASA is committed to leading by example when it comes to 

open science,” said Andrew Mitchell, deputy chief science data officer 

for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, whose office

 leads the agency’s open science efforts. “These workshops 

gave our Artemis Accords partners practical tools

 and a shared foundation to build on as we move forward together.”  

NASA presented the Planetary Data System, 

one of the agency’s primary archives for planetary science data,

 openly available lunar data, data visualization and analysis tools, 

and the system’s data information model standard,

 offering a real-world example of how NASA structures, 

curates, and shares scientific data with the world.

Across both sessions, NASA shared practices 

developed over years of stewarding scientific data and 

opened the floor to technical experts across the

 Artemis Accords community, reflecting a deliberate 

effort to build alignment at the working level.

“Advances in technology help enable open science,

 but technology alone is insufficient,” said Mitchell. 

“Open science requires a shift to a more transparent and 

collaborative scientific process, which will increase

 the pace and quality of scientific progress. 

Scientific processes and results should be as open and 

repeatable as possible to encourage further study.”

In 2020, NASA and the State Department joined 

with seven other founding nations to establish the 

Artemis Accords in response to the growing interest

 in lunar activities by both governments and private companies. 

They introduced the first set of practical principles aimed at enhancing

 the safety and coordination between like-minded nations 

as they explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond, committing nations to:

• explore peaceably and transparently
• render aid to those in need
• enable access to scientific data
• ensure activities do not interfere with those of others
• preserve historically significant sites and artifacts
•  by developing best practices

By signing the Artemis Accords, nations open the

 door to opportunities for future lunar exploration with NASA, 

advancing humanity’s return to the Moon, and shaping the 

Golden Age of space exploration and innovation.

Learn more about the Artemis Accords at: 

Source:    https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords