# Survey: share your knowledge about the importance of hardware databases, for our SPLASH manuscript! **URL:** \ **Category:** Hardware AWG Topics\ **Tags:** publications, database, hardwareawg\ **Created:** [November 21, 2025, 1:29am UTC](https://awg.osdr.space/t/survey-share-your-knowledge-about-the-importance-of-hardware-databases-for-our-splash-manuscript/3656 "2025-11-21T01:29:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jessica.a.lee](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/awg.osdr.space/jessica.a.lee/32/1087_2.png) [@jessica.a.lee](https://awg.osdr.space/u/jessica.a.lee)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 1:29am UTC](https://awg.osdr.space/t/survey-share-your-knowledge-about-the-importance-of-hardware-databases-for-our-splash-manuscript/3656/1 "2025-11-21T01:29:26Z")
Dear Hardware AWG members, [@HardwareAWG](https://awg.osdr.space/groups/hardwareawg) As some of you heard in our meeting today, we’re writing a manuscript to describe the up-and-coming SPLASH database, to be published (or put on a preprint server) around the same time as the public release of SPLASH. To help make the case for the existence of SPLASH and to provide accurate context, we’d love to hear from you: 1. In a world without the SPLASH database, how do experimenters (especially those new to space sciences) find out about spaceflight hardware to plan experiments? 2. What are cases in which it’s really important to have full information (metadata) about the hardware used for an experiment? 3. Do we have any anecdotes or evidence about how important open data is for the design of spaceflight hardware? Maybe examples of how someone wasted resources redesigning the wheel? 4. What are other existing repositories of information about spaceflight instruments, or terrestrial hardware databases, that we should know about and compare SPLASH to? If you have any information that could address any of these questions, please share! [@ALSDAawg](https://awg.osdr.space/groups/alsdaawg) [@AnimalAWG](https://awg.osdr.space/groups/animalawg) [@PlantAWG](https://awg.osdr.space/groups/plantawg) [@MicrobesAWG](https://awg.osdr.space/groups/microbesawg) ---
**Author:** ![sanmitaach](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/awg.osdr.space/sanmitaach/32/3000_2.png) [@sanmitaach](https://awg.osdr.space/u/sanmitaach)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 9:37am UTC](https://awg.osdr.space/t/survey-share-your-knowledge-about-the-importance-of-hardware-databases-for-our-splash-manuscript/3656/2 "2025-11-21T09:37:08Z")
Some information I gathered @jessica.a.lee 1. In a world without the SPLASH database, how do experimenters (especially those new to space sciences) find out about spaceflight hardware to plan experiments? Currently, there is no single centralized location where all spaceflight hardware information is collected. So new experimenters mostly rely on, - Legacy NASA documentations like ISS Payload Developer’s guides, mission-specific hardware documents, scattered PDFs from different NASA centers (problem: These files may be outdated and inconsistent, different documents use different units or terminology, and limited accessibility.) - Contacting directly the hardware experts, previous mission teams and Principal Investigators. (problem: May not be available, not easy to contact) - For commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware like cameras, sensors, incubators, experimenters go through vendor catalogues, product brochures, spec sheets. (problem: specs may not include spaceflight constraints like radiation tolerance, vibration, hardware that works perfectly on Earth may fail in space or require unplanned modifications) - Researchers look for previous spaceflight experiment papers which has some information about hardware used. (problem: papers do not include full hardware details, no metadata standards, and are time-consuming) 2. What are cases in which it’s really important to have full information (metadata) about the hardware used for an experiment? Complete metadata about hardware is required in the following situations: - To replicate or build upon a previous experiment, researchers must know the exact instrument model, configuration, calibration, and any modifications. - Flight safety and hardware review process relies on accurate metadata to verify that hardware meets the requirements. - During the experiment design and resource planning, detailed metadata specs prevent resource conflicts, incompatible payloads from being selected. - If hardware fails or behaves unexpectedly in space, metadata enables efficient, accurate diagnosis and mitigation. - Standardized metadata ensures that future researchers can reuse the hardware’s data correctly. ---
**Author:** ![met4t](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/awg.osdr.space/met4t/32/569_2.png) [@met4t](https://awg.osdr.space/u/met4t)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 11:31am UTC](https://awg.osdr.space/t/survey-share-your-knowledge-about-the-importance-of-hardware-databases-for-our-splash-manuscript/3656/3 "2025-11-21T11:31:10Z")
Adding to what has been summarized. On metadata: The metadata should explicitly describe the context in which the experiment was conducted. It is of key importance to consider the influence of microgravity on the conduct of experiments. This has to play a role significantly in fluid flow. These reasons should warrant the creation of a spaceflight hardware database, given the uniqueness of the equipment to adapt to spaceflight conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Shankia1985](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/awg.osdr.space/shankia1985/32/4533_2.png) [@Shankia1985](https://awg.osdr.space/u/Shankia1985)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://awg.osdr.space/t/survey-share-your-knowledge-about-the-importance-of-hardware-databases-for-our-splash-manuscript/3656/4 "2025-11-21T14:58:16Z")
1. Without the SPLASH database, experimenters must look in many different places to learn about space hardware. They search NASA websites, read old mission reports, and check guides that list the tools already on the International Space Station (NASA, 2021). New scientists often have to ask experts because all the information is spread out and hard to find (NASA, 2024) Reference: NASA. (2021). _ISS Researcher’s Guide Series_. [https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science](https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science) NASA. (2024). _NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)_. [https://ntrs.nasa.gov](https://ntrs.nasa.gov) 1. It is really important to have full hardware information, called metadata, when a tool can change how an experiment behaves. For example, scientists need to know the exact temperature, light, motion, and settings a device uses, because even tiny changes can affect plant growth or cell behavior (NASA OSDR, 2023). Clear metadata also helps other scientists repeat the experiment safely and correctly, just like following all the steps in a recipe (NASA, 2021). Reference: NASA Open Science Data Repository. (2023). _OSDR overview_. [https://osdr.nasa.gov](https://osdr.nasa.gov) NASA. (2021). _ISS Researcher’s Guide Series_. [https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science](https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science) 1. Yes, open data is very important because it helps scientists see what has already been built, so they don’t waste time making the same tool again. In science and engineering, teams have sometimes spent lots of money rebuilding devices simply because the designs were not shared or easy to find (NASA Open Science, 2022). Studies show that using shared, open hardware designs can save almost all of the cost compared to starting from scratch, which proves how helpful open data can be (Pearce, 2014). This shows that when information is not open, people can accidentally “redo the same work” without knowing it. Reference: NASA Open Science. (2022). _Why open science matters_. [https://science.nasa.gov/open-science](https://science.nasa.gov/open-science) Pearce, J. M. (2014). _Open-source hardware for science_. [https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1254026](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1254026) 1. There are a few other places scientist look for information about space tools. One is the ISS Researcher’s Guide and the ISS Facilities Director, which show what equipment is already on the space station (NASA, 2021). Another is the NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR), which lists the hardware used in many space biology experiments (NASA OSDR, 2023). For Earth based tools, scientists sometimes use big instrument catalogs like the WMO OSCAR database, which lists instruments on Earth observing satellites (WMO, 2023). These are helpful, but none of them focus only on hardware metadata the way SPLASH will. Reference: NASA. (2021). _ISS Researcher’s Guide Series_. [https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science](https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science) NASA Open Science Data Repository. (2023). _OSDR overview_. [https://osdr.nasa.gov](https://osdr.nasa.gov) World Meteorological Organization. (2023). _OSCAR Satellite Instruments Database_. [https://space.oscar.wmo.int](https://space.oscar.wmo.int) @jessica.a.lee ---
**Author:** ![XLPalmer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/awg.osdr.space/xlpalmer/32/15_2.png) [@XLPalmer](https://awg.osdr.space/u/XLPalmer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 4:36am UTC](https://awg.osdr.space/t/survey-share-your-knowledge-about-the-importance-of-hardware-databases-for-our-splash-manuscript/3656/5 "2025-12-09T04:36:56Z")
Is there still time to contribute to this? ---
**Author:** ![jessica.a.lee](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/awg.osdr.space/jessica.a.lee/32/1087_2.png) [@jessica.a.lee](https://awg.osdr.space/u/jessica.a.lee)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 8:18am UTC](https://awg.osdr.space/t/survey-share-your-knowledge-about-the-importance-of-hardware-databases-for-our-splash-manuscript/3656/6 "2025-12-18T08:18:27Z")
Yes, there is! If you’re still interested. Thanks very much! ---
**Author:** ![XLPalmer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/awg.osdr.space/xlpalmer/32/15_2.png) [@XLPalmer](https://awg.osdr.space/u/XLPalmer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 3:26am UTC](https://awg.osdr.space/t/survey-share-your-knowledge-about-the-importance-of-hardware-databases-for-our-splash-manuscript/3656/7 "2025-12-19T03:26:44Z")
Aye. Count me in. A short answer on the OP: 1. Getting an understanding on how hardware parameters can influence the experiment, especially in terms of hardware degradation paths over time. ---
**Author:** ![luis.depombopuerta](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/awg.osdr.space/luis.depombopuerta/32/3470_2.png) [@luis.depombopuerta](https://awg.osdr.space/u/luis.depombopuerta)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://awg.osdr.space/t/survey-share-your-knowledge-about-the-importance-of-hardware-databases-for-our-splash-manuscript/3656/8 "2026-03-09T22:37:12Z")
### 1. In a world without the SPLASH database, how do experimenters (especially those new to space sciences) find out about spaceflight hardware to plan experiments? - They assemble information from multiple separate sources rather than one canonical registry: ISS researcher guides, payload design/integration documents, and technical archives. - [ISS Researcher’s Guide Series](https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-research-and-technology/opportunities-information-for-researchers/iss-researchers-guide-series/) - [Quick Start Guide to Payload Design](https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/quick-start-guide-to-payload-design/) - [NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/) - They also use mission/program-specific documents (often difficult to standardize across centers and eras), including safety/integration process docs. - [Safety Review Process (ISS Program)](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210009935) - In practice, many teams still rely on expert contacts and prior mission teams to fill gaps. ### 2. What are cases in which it’s really important to have full information (metadata) about the hardware used for an experiment? - Reproducibility and validation: metadata provides essential context/provenance for verifying and reusing results. - [The role of metadata in reproducible computational research](https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.08589) - Instrument identity/configuration tracking: persistent instrument-level metadata supports data-quality assessment and reuse. - [Persistent Identification Of Instruments (arXiv)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.12958) - [PIDINST paper (Data Science Journal)](https://datascience.codata.org/articles/10.5334/dsj-2020-018) - Safety and payload reviews: accurate hardware details are required in formal ISS safety/integration workflows. - [Safety Review Process (ISS Program)](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210009935) - Microgravity-sensitive experiments: geometry/material/wetting and configuration can substantially affect behavior/results. - [Capillary Flow Experiments (NASA NTRS)](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20090040689) - FAIR reuse/interoperability: rich, standardized metadata is central to findability and reusability. - [FAIR Guiding Principles](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26978244/) - OSDR submission guidance shows this concretely via controlled terms and structured metadata fields. - [OSDR Data Submission Guide](https://osdr-tutorials.readthedocs.io/en/latest/pages/guides/submit_data_to_osdr.html) ### 3. Do we have any anecdotes or evidence about how important open data is for the design of spaceflight hardware? Maybe examples of how someone wasted resources redesigning the wheel? - Direct spaceflight case studies are still being consolidated, but strong adjacent evidence from open scientific hardware shows that open designs/specs can greatly reduce duplicate effort and cost. - [Building Research Equipment with Free, Open-Source Hardware (Science, 2012)](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1228183) - [Cut costs with open-source hardware (Nature, 2014)](https://www.nature.com/articles/505618d) - NASA’s open-science rationale also emphasizes that openness improves reuse and accelerates discovery (i.e., less reinvention). - [Why do Open Science? (NASA)](https://science.nasa.gov/open-science/why-do-open-science) ### 4. What are other existing repositories of information about spaceflight instruments, or terrestrial hardware databases, that we should know about and compare SPLASH to? - NASA NTRS: major archive of spaceflight technical and hardware documentation, but not a unified experiment-hardware metadata registry. - [NTRS](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/) - WMO OSCAR/Space: structured, searchable catalog of space-based observing instruments/capabilities. - [OSCAR/Space Instruments](https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments) - CEOS MIM Database: searchable missions/instruments/measurements across global EO agencies. - [CEOS Instrument Table](https://database.eohandbook.com/database/instrumenttable.aspx) - [CEOS MIM Overview](https://ceos.org/mim-database/) - OSDR hardware collections (as in-ecosystem comparator and integration point). - [OSDR Hardware (example year view)](https://osdr.nasa.gov/bio/repo/data/hardware/2025)