Maximum PC

The Open-Source View of Outer Space

FOR MOST PEOPLE, the closest they’re ever likely to get to working in a space program is playing the game Kerbal Space Program. That’s probably not going to change, but now you can at least feel as though you’re getting a deeper glimpse into what it takes

- Alex Campbell

At the beginning of March, NASA made a large library of software programs available to the “public.” The software runs the gamut from code to control propulsion systems to environmen­tal science to boring old project management tools.

But what’s with the quotes around “public”? Of the 975 software projects that have been released to the public, only 210 (about 22 percent) are released as open source. Many others are available as a government release, of which many are only available to other government agencies or government contractor­s. Getting access to one-fifth of what NASA released is better than nothing, but I’m a little thrown off by the decision to advertise the offering of software that only other government officials or contractor­s can actually look at.

First off, I’m a firm believer in the concept behind Code For America, an organizati­on that looks to enlist young programers to create open-source applicatio­ns in the public interest. Offering up code in an open-source format or Git repository for people to contribute to could be a huge resource for an agency that’s been cash-strapped for decades.

Second, I’m forced to wonder why NASA would put links for code on a public website when some of that code isn’t accessible to the public. It’s like telling a kid in a toy store, “You can play with any toy you want, except those. Those are special toys.” It’s also curious that some of the tools are hosted at SourceForg­e. Some of the projects have Subversion (SVN) repositori­es available, but most open-source projects use Git nowadays. It would be great to see these projects hosted on a GitLab server somewhere. (GitLab is akin to a self-hosted GitHub.) Having a single central server to host Git repos would be much more efficient than the slapdash collection of links that are available now.

Neverthele­ss, I’m excited to see tools that are literally used by rocket scientists made available for everyone. One example is NASA’s General Mission Analysis Tool, or GMAT. According to the ReadMe, “GMAT is a space trajectory optimizati­on and mission analysis system developed by NASA and private industry in the spirit of the NASA Vision.” Basically, you can use GMAT to plan orbits of stuff shot into space. Neato. And NASA released it under the Apache license, to boot. In addition to the source, you can get the applicatio­n for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu.

Some other projects, such as the Global Precipitat­ion Space and Ground Radar Comparison Software, are released under NASA’s Open Source Agreement (NOSA). Version 1.3 of the NOSA has been certified by the Open Source Initiative as a valid open-source license, but the Free Software Foundation does not consider the license free software.

If you want to check out any of these projects, just head over to https://software.nasa.gov. You can browse projects by category or search by keyword. Although a lot of the software isn’t terribly useful for those of us who aren’t rocket scientists, it’s fun to poke around and take a peek at what’s been under NASA’s hood for the past few years. And for those who are engineers or rocket scientists, there might just be some goodies waiting for your next project.

It’s fun to poke around and take a peek at what’s been under NASA’s hood for the past few years.

Alex Campbell is a Linux geek who enjoys learning about computer security.

 ??  ?? This Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite image was made using open-source software.
This Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite image was made using open-source software.
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