Hello AWG members! @HardwareAWG @AWGall
The Hardware team is creating two new subgroups to help with the population and standardization of data going into the SPLASH database. This topic lays out details for the SPLASH Content Subgroup.
BACKGROUND
Throughout the spring and summer of 2026, the Hardware AWG has been developing a manuscript to describe the Space Physical and Life sciences Archive of Scientific Hardware (SPLASH), an open-access database to centralize and catalog space flight instrumentation and equipment used for life and physical sciences research. The team is aiming to publish this manuscript in the late summer/fall timeframe.
In order to speed the population and standardization of data within SPLASH, the Hardware AWG is creating two new subgroups to focus on these tasks. One will focus on improving the content in the SPLASH database (CONTENT SUBGROUP), while the other will focus on defining metadata standards for hardware entries in the database (STANDARDS SUBGROUP). This topic outlines the needs and details for the Content Subgroup.
CONTENT SUBGROUP PLAN
The primary goal for the Content Subgroup is to gather, validate, and upload data on relevant hardware for SPLASH. Our plan to achieve this goal by the end of summer will come in three steps:
- Gather hardware records from existing databases - for the sake of speed, our team will gather existing hardware records from NLSP, NSLSL, PSI, and OSDR. We will compile our records in a working central repository for initial cleaning, deduplication, and standardization.
- Subject records to expert review and validation - once records have been gleaned from the other databases and compiled in a central repository, our team will categorize them into relevant groups to be shared with subject matter experts who can verify hardware entries related to their area of expertise.
- Upload validated and completed records to SPLASH - after the subject matter expert returns the list of validated and approved records to our team, we will complete population and formatting of the record fields for upload into the SPLASH database.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
We are currently looking for help in the following areas:
- Developers/subject matter experts for the target databases - we are currently looking for people tied to the development or maintenance of either SPLASH or any of the other databases we listed above (NLSP, NSLSL, OSDR, PSI) to find ideal paths for extracting data (or in the case of SPLASH, ideal methods of formatting). If you are tied to any of these databases or you know someone who is, please contact our team.
- Subject matter experts in the field of space physical and life sciences hardware - we are looking for subject matter experts who will be able to help us validate the records we compile. If you have subject matter expertise in the field of space science hardware or you know someone who does, please contact our team.
- Team members to assist in gathering and compiling data records - we will likely need help as we initially gather these records from the other databases. If this sounds interesting to you, or if you have expertise in gathering records from online bases in an automated fashion, please contact our team.
The SPLASH Content Subgroup is currently planning to hold quick coordination meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:00 PM Pacific Time. The link to the meeting is copied below, and links to the repository and other subgroup resources will be posted soon.
If you are interested in joining or speaking with the SPLASH Content Subgroup, please contact Adhvika Manivannan or Nathan Albright.
Hardware AWG SPLASH Content Subgroup Meeting
Tuesday, June 30 · 3:00 – 3:30pm
Time zone: America/Chicago
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: Google Meet meeting