Rescuing EDL Data

Abstract

After 50 years of spaceflight a tremendous amount of information has been written and published about the Entry, Descent, and Landing discipline. While there are holdings, with individuals and partial collections at various NASA web sites, there is no central repository or portal for this critical information. This paper will discuss a new initiative for archiving and preserving technical EDL material, which aims to provide a single resource for archiving and preserving EDL material from recent missions as well as older data that is at risk of being lost. Background information will be presented establishing the rationale and charter for the Repository along with a description of the scope and intended users. Key features of the web-based EDL-R will be presented including: a standards-oriented open-source solution; security measures; various retrieval methods; submission and review processes; subscription and automatic notification. Lastly, plans for future capabilities, expanded repository content, and maintenance will be described.