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NASA NTRS2005

An Algorithm for the Transport of Anisotropic Neutrons

One major obstacle to human space exploration is the possible limitations imposed by the adverse effect of long-term exposure to the space environment. Even before human spaceflight began, the potentially brief exposure of astronauts to the very intense random solar particle events (SPE) were of great concern. A new challenge appears in deep space exploration from exposure to the low-intensity heavy-ion flux of the galactic cosmic rays (GCR) since the missions are of long duration and the accumulated GCR exposures can be high. Because cancer induction rates increase behind low to rather large thicknesses of aluminum shielding, according to available biological data on mammalian exposures to GCR like ions, the shield requirements for a Mars mission are prohibitively expensive in terms of mission launch costs. Therefore, a critical issue in the Human Exploration and Development of Space enterprise is cost effective mitigation of risk associated with ionizing radiation exposure. In order to estimate astronaut risk to GCR exposure and associated cancer risks and health hazards, it is necessary to do shield material studies. To determine an optimum radiation shield material it is necessary to understand nuclear interaction processes such as fragmentation and secondary particle production which is a function of energy dependent cross sections. This requires knowledge of material transmission characteristics either through laboratory testing or improved theoretical modeling. Here ion beam transport theory is of importance in that testing of materials in the laboratory environment generated by particle accelerators is a necessary step in materials development and evaluation for space use. The approximations used in solving the Boltzmann transport equation for the space setting are often not sufficient for laboratory work and those issues are a major emphasis of the present work.

Tweed, J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Oh! I Slipped the Surly Bounds of Earth....and Ran into Space Weather!

Over the past decade the concept of space weather has been introduced and matured in both the scientific community and popular press. Likewise the concept of space climatology recently also is being advanced. Closely linked to these concepts are their impacts on ground- and space-based technological systems; one such system commonly mentioned is manned space flight exemplified by the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS). From a manned space flight perspective, space weather and space climatology have significant effects on the amount of radiation exposure received by humans in space from the ambient high-energy charged particles present in interplanetary space and trapped in the geomagnetosphere. Whereas the impact of space weather for most technological systems is usually discrete and well correlated in time, the principle impact of space weather and space climatology is to increase the probability of latent cancer formation in thetraveler cohort. In this regard, while space weather may be the dominating factor for a given mission, over the life of a long-term program such as the Space Shuttle or ISS space climatology is the controlling factor of latent cancer risk. Human radiation exposure enhancements associated with space weather disturbances has been a concern among scientist and mission controllers since the inception of manned spaceflight nearly forty years ago. This led NASA to develop, in conjunction with the Environmental Science Services Administration s Space Disturbance Forecast Center and the USAF/AWS, the Solar Particle Alert Network (SPAN)-the foundation of an initial U.S. space weather monitoring and forecasting service. Since Apollo, routine space flight operations have evolved to include the use of space weather and climatology data provided through a world-wide network of operational space weather data services to predict and recommend actions to minimize astronaut radiation exposures. NASA Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) flight controllers use real-time space weather data to detect and assess the impact of solar particle events, outer electron belt enhancements, the formation of pseudo-stable additional trapped radiation belts, and the solar cycle modulation of trapped radiation belts and galactic cosmic rays. Energetic particle data from GOES spacecraft are automatically ingested from NOAA Space Environment Center data servers and used to drive a model for the estimating the exposure to astronauts from solar particle events. While adequate for current manned space flight support, the existing operational space weather support system requires improvements to address the anticipated evolution in both the character of manned missions as well as space flight operations management. Necessary space weather data improvements include: reliably available (near) real-time space weather data on a fixed schedule via redundant access methods that support autonomous data acquisition by computer systems behind enterprise firewalls; and rapid transition of promising research sensors into operational systems.

Golightly, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Software architecture for large scale, distributed, data-intensive systems

This paper presents our experience with OODT, a novel software architectual style, and middlware-based implementation for data-intensive systems. To date, OODT has been successfully evaluated in several different science domains including Cancer Research with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and Planetary Science with NASA's Planetary Data System (PDS).

software architecture↗
NASA NTRS2006

Space Radiation

Astronauts receive the highest occupational radiation exposure. Effective protections are needed to ensure the safety of astronauts on long duration space missions. Increased cancer morbidity or mortality risk in astronauts may be caused by occupational radiation exposure. Acute and late radiation damage to the central nervous system (CNS) may lead to changes in motor function and behavior, or neurological disorders. Radiation exposure may result in degenerative tissue diseases (non-cancer or non-CNS) such as cardiac, circulatory, or digestive diseases, as well as cataracts. Acute radiation syndromes may occur due to occupational radiation exposure.

Wu, Honglu↗
NASA NTRS2004

Evident Biological Effects of Space Radiation in Astronauts

Though cancer risks are the primary concern for astronauts exposed to space radiation and a number of astronauts have developed cancer, identifying a direct association or cause of disease has been somewhat problematic due to a lack of statistics and a lack of an appropriate control group. However, several bio,logical effects observed in astronauts are believed to be primarily due to exposure to space radiation. Among those are, light flashes experienced by astronauts from early missions, cataract development in the crewmembers and excess chromosome aberrations detected in astronauts' lymphocytes postmission. The space radiation environment and evident biological effects will be discussed.

Wu, Honglu↗
NASA NTRS2004

Multimodality instrument for tissue characterization

A system with multimodality instrument for tissue identification includes a computer-controlled motor driven heuristic probe with a multisensory tip. For neurosurgical applications, the instrument is mounted on a stereotactic frame for the probe to penetrate the brain in a precisely controlled fashion. The resistance of the brain tissue being penetrated is continually monitored by a miniaturized strain gauge attached to the probe tip. Other modality sensors may be mounted near the probe tip to provide real-time tissue characterizations and the ability to detect the proximity of blood vessels, thus eliminating errors normally associated with registration of pre-operative scans, tissue swelling, elastic tissue deformation, human judgement, etc., and rendering surgical procedures safer, more accurate, and efficient. A neural network program adaptively learns the information on resistance and other characteristic features of normal brain tissue during the surgery and provides near real-time modeling. A fuzzy logic interface to the neural network program incorporates expert medical knowledge in the learning process. Identification of abnormal brain tissue is determined by the detection of change and comparison with previously learned models of abnormal brain tissues. The operation of the instrument is controlled through a user friendly graphical interface. Patient data is presented in a 3D stereographics display. Acoustic feedback of selected information may optionally be provided. Upon detection of the close proximity to blood vessels or abnormal brain tissue, the computer-controlled motor immediately stops probe penetration. The use of this system will make surgical procedures safer, more accurate, and more efficient. Other applications of this system include the detection, prognosis and treatment of breast cancer, prostate cancer, spinal diseases, and use in general exploratory surgery.

Mah, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS2008

M-BAND Analysis of Chromosome Aberration Induced by Fe-Ions in Human Epithelial Cells Cultured in 3-Dimensional Matrices

Energetic heavy ions pose a great health risk to astronauts in extended ISS and future lunar and Mars missions. High-LET heavy ions are particularly effective in causing various biological effects, including cell inactivation, genetic mutations, cataracts and cancer induction. Most of these biological endpoints are closely related to chromosomal damage, which can be utilized as a biomarker for radiation insults. Previously, we had studied low- and high-LET radiation-induced chromosome aberrations in human epithelial cells cultured in 2-dimension (2D) using the multicolor banding fluorescence in situ hybridization (mBAND) technique. However, it has been realized that the biological response to radiation insult in a 2D cellular environment in vitro can differ significantly from the response in 3-dimension (3D) or at the actual tissue level. In this study, we cultured human epithelial cells in 3D to provide a more suitable model for human tissue. Human mammary epithelia cells (CH184B5F5/M10) were grown in Matrigel to form 3D structures, and exposed to Fe-ions at NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory or 137Cs-gamma radiation source at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. After exposure, cells were allowed to repair for 16hr before dissociation and subcultued at low density in 2D. G2 and metaphase chromosomes in the first cell cycle were collected using a chemical-induced premature chromosome condensation (PCC) technique, and chromosome aberrations were analyzed using mBAND technique. With this technique, individually painted chromosomal bands on one chromosome allowed the identification of interchromosomal aberrations (translocation to unpainted chromosomes) and intrachromosomal aberrations (inversions and deletions within a single painted chromosome). Our data indicate a significant difference of the chromosome aberration yield between 2D and 3D cell cultures for gamma exposures, but not for Fe ion exposures. Therefore, the RBE for chromosome aberrations obtained in a 2D model may not represent accurately the RBE for tissues.

Hada, M.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Propensity and Risk Assessment for Solar Particle Events: Consideration of Integral Fluence at High Proton Energies

For future space missions with longer duration, exposure to large solar particle events (SPEs) with high energy levels is the major concern during extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) on the lunar and Mars surface. The expected SPE propensity for large proton fluence was estimated from a non-homogeneous Poisson model using the historical database for measurements of protons with energy > 30 MeV, Phi(sub 30). The database includes a continuous data set for the past 5 solar cycles. The resultant SPE risk analysis for a specific mission period was made including the 95% confidence level. In addition to total particle intensity of SPE, the detailed energy spectra of protons especially at high energy levels were recognized as extremely important parameter for the risk assessment, since there remains a significant cancer risks from those energetic particles for large events. Using all the recorded proton fluence of SPEs for energies >60 and >100 MeV, Phi(sub 60) and Phi(sub 100), respectively, the expected propensities of SPEs abundant with high energy protons were estimated from the same non-homogeneous Poisson model and the representative cancer risk was analyzed. The dependencies of risk with different energy spectra, for e.g. between soft and hard SPEs, were evaluated. Finally, we describe approaches to improve radiation protection of astronauts and optimize mission planning for future space missions.

Kim, Myung-Hee↗
NASA NTRS2008

High- and low-LET Radiation-induced Chromosome Aberrations in Human Epithelial Cells Cultured in 3-dimensional Matrices

Energetic heavy ions pose a great health risk to astronauts who participate in extended ISS missions and will be an even greater concern for future manned lunar and Mars missions. High-LET heavy ions are particularly effective in causing various biological effects, including cell inactivation, genetic mutations, cataracts and cancer induction. Most of these biological endpoints are closely related to chromosomal damage, which can be utilized as a biomarker for radiation insults. Previously, we had studied low- and high-LET radiation-induced chromosome aberrations in human epithelial cells cultured in 2-dimension (2D) using the multicolor banding fluorescence in situ hybridization (mBAND) technique. However, it has been realized that the biological response to radiation insult in a 2D in vitro cellular environment can differ significantly from the response in 3-dimension (3D) or at the actual tissue level. In this study, we cultured human epithelial cells in 3D to provide a more suitable model for human tissue. Human mammary epithelial cells (CH184B5F5/M10) were grown in Matrigel to form 3D structures, and exposed to Fe-ions at NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory or 137Cs-gamma radiation source at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. After exposure, cells were allowed to repair for 16hr before dissociation and subcultured at low density in 2D. G2 and metaphase chromosomes in the first cell cycle were collected in the first cell cycle after irradiation using a chemical-induced premature chromosome condensation (PCC) technique, and chromosome aberrations were analyzed using mBAND technique. With this technique, individually painted chromosomal bands on one chromosome allowed the identification of interchromosomal aberrations (translocation to unpainted chromosomes) and intrachromosomal aberrations (inversions and deletions within a single painted chromosome). Our data indicate a significant difference in the chromosome aberration yield between 2D and 3D cell cultures after gamma exposures, but not after Fe ion exposures. Therefore, the Relative Biological Effect (RBE) for induction of chromosome aberrations obtained in a 2D model may not accurately represent RBE values obtained for tissue exposure.

Hada, M.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Predictions of Leukemia Risks to Astronauts from Solar Particle Events

Leukemias consisting of acute and chronic myeloid leukemia and acute lymphatic lymphomas represent the earliest cancers that appear after radiation exposure, have a high lethality fraction, and make up a significant fraction of the overall fatal cancer risk from radiation for adults. Several considerations impact the recommendation of a preferred model for the estimation of leukemia risks from solar particle events (SPE's): The BEIR VII report recommends several changes to the method of calculation of leukemia risk compared to the methods recommended by the NCRP Report No. 132 including the preference of a mixture model with additive and multiplicative components in BEIR VII compared to the additive transfer model recommended by NCRP Report No. 132. Proton fluences and doses vary considerably across marrow regions because of the characteristic spectra of primary solar protons making the use of an average dose suspect. Previous estimates of bone marrow doses from SPE's have used an average body-shielding distribution for marrow based on the computerized anatomical man model (CAM). We have developed an 82-point body-shielding distribution that faithfully reproduces the mean and variance of SPE doses in the active marrow regions (head and neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis and thighs) allowing for more accurate estimation of linear- and quadratic-dose components of the marrow response. SPE's have differential dose-rates and a pseudo-quadratic dose response term is possible in the peak-flux period of an event. Also, the mechanistic basis for leukemia risk continues to improve allowing for improved strategies in choosing dose-rate modulation factors and radiation quality descriptors. We make comparisons of the various choices of the components in leukemia risk estimates in formulating our preferred model. A major finding is that leukemia could be the dominant risk to astronauts for a major solar particle event.

Cucinotta, F. A.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Inter- and Intra-Chromosomal Aberrations in Human Cells Exposed in vitro to High and Low LET Radiations

Energetic heavy ions pose a health risk to astronauts in extended ISS and future Mars missions. High-LET heavy ions are particularly effective in causing various biological effects including cell inactivation, genetic mutations and cancer induction. Most of these biological endpoints are closely related to chromosomal damage, which can be utilized as a biomarker for radiation insults. Previously, we had studied chromosome aberrations in human lymphocytes and fibroblasts induced by both low- and high-LET radiation using FISH and multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (mFISH) techniques. In this study, we exposed human epithelial cells in vitro to gamma rays and energetic particles of varying types and energies and dose rates, and analyzed chromosomal damages using the multicolor banding in situ hybridization (mBAND) procedure. Confluent human epithelial cells (CH184B5F5/M10) were exposed to energetic heavy ions at NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, high energy neutron at the Los Alamos Nuclear Science Center (LANSCE) or Cs-137-gamma radiation source at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center. After colcemid and Calyculin A treatment, cells were fixed and painted with XCyte3 mBAND kit (MetaSystems) and chromosome aberrations were analyzed with mBAND analysis system (MetaSystems). With this technique, individually painted chromosomal bands on one chromosome allowed the identification of interchromosomal aberrations (translocation to unpainted chromosomes) and intrachromosomal aberrations (inversions and deletions within a single painted chromosome). The results of the mBAND study showed a higher ratio of inversion involved with interchromosomal exchange in heavy ions compared to -ray irradiation. Analysis of chromosome aberrations using mBAND has the potential to provide useful information on human cell response to space-like radiation.

Hada, M.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Probalistic Assessment of Radiation Risk for Solar Particle Events

For long duration missions outside of the protection of the Earth's magnetic field, exposure to solar particle events (SPEs) is a major safety concern for crew members during extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) on the lunar surface or Earth-to-moon or Earth-to-Mars transit. The large majority (~90%) of SPEs have small or no health consequences because the doses are low and the particles do not penetrate to organ depths. However, there is an operational challenge to respond to events of unknown size and duration. We have developed a probabilistic approach to SPE risk assessment in support of mission design and operational planning. Using the historical database of proton measurements during the past 5 solar cycles, the functional form of hazard function of SPE occurrence per cycle was found for nonhomogeneous Poisson model. A typical hazard function was defined as a function of time within a non-specific future solar cycle of 4000 days duration. Distributions of particle fluences for a specified mission period were simulated ranging from its 5th to 95th percentile. Organ doses from large SPEs were assessed using NASA's Baryon transport model, BRYNTRN. The SPE risk was analyzed with the organ dose distribution for the given particle fluences during a mission period. In addition to the total particle fluences of SPEs, the detailed energy spectra of protons, especially at high energy levels, were recognized as extremely important for assessing the cancer risk associated with energetic particles for large events. The probability of exceeding the NASA 30-day limit of blood forming organ (BFO) dose inside a typical spacecraft was calculated for various SPE sizes. This probabilistic approach to SPE protection will be combined with a probabilistic approach to the radiobiological factors that contribute to the uncertainties in projecting cancer risks in future work.

Kim, Myung-Hee Y.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Changes of Gene Expression in the Apoptosis Pathway in Lncap and PC3 Cells Exposed to X-Rays or Protons

Radio-resistant or recurrent prostate cancer represents a serious health risk for approximately 20%-30% of patients treated with primary radiation therapy for clinically localized prostate cancer. In our current studies, we investigated the expressions of apoptosis related gene expression profile (84 genes) in two distinct prostate cell lines Lncap (P53+ and AR+) and PC3 (P53- and AR-) before and after exposure to X-rays or protons, using cDNA PCR arrays. In Lncap cells, 10Gy X-ray radiation significantly induced the expression of 19 out of 84 genes at 4h after irradiation. The changed genes were mostly in death and death receptor domain families, TNF ligand and receptor families, and apoptotic group of the BCL2 family, especially in P53 related genes, such as FAS, BAX, BAK1 and GADD45A. In PC3, X-rays only induced the expression of 3 genes, including an increased expression of BIRC3. There was no difference of the X-ray mediated cell killing in both cell lines using the cell cycle analysis. However, these X-ray-induced gene expression differences between PC3 and Lncap may explain the phenotype of PC3 cells that shows more tolerant not only to radiation, but also to other apoptosis inducing and sensitizing reagents. To compare the effectiveness of cell killing with X-rays, we also exposed PC3 cells to 10Gy protons at the Bragg peak region. Protons did not induce more apoptosis than X-rays for the same dose. In comparison to X-rays, protons significantly altered expressions of 13 genes in PC3, which included decreased expressions of anti-apoptosis genes (BCL2 and BCL2L2), and increased expressions of death and death receptor domain family genes, TNF ligand and receptor family and several kinases (FAS, DAPK1 and RIPK2). These data suggest that proton treatment is more effective in influencing the apoptosis pathways in PC3 cells than X-rays, thus protons may be more effective in the treatment of specific prostate tumor.

Zhang, Ye↗
NASA NTRS2009

Modular and Stochastic Approaches to Molecular Pathway Models of ATM, TGF beta, and WNT Signaling

Deterministic pathway models that describe the biochemical interactions of a group of related proteins, their complexes, activation through kinase, etc. are often the basis for many systems biology models. Low dose radiation effects present a unique set of challenges to these models including the importance of stochastic effects due to the nature of radiation tracks and small number of molecules activated, and the search for infrequent events that contribute to cancer risks. We have been studying models of the ATM, TGF -Smad and WNT signaling pathways with the goal of applying pathway models to the investigation of low dose radiation cancer risks. Modeling challenges include introduction of stochastic models of radiation tracks, their relationships to more than one substrate species that perturb pathways, and the identification of a representative set of enzymes that act on the dominant substrates. Because several pathways are activated concurrently by radiation the development of modular pathway approach is of interest.

Cucinotta, Francis A.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Uncertainties in Estimates of the Risks of Late Effects from Space Radiation

The health risks faced by astronauts from space radiation include cancer, cataracts, hereditary effects, and non-cancer morbidity and mortality risks related to the diseases of the old age. Methods used to project risks in low-Earth orbit are of questionable merit for exploration missions because of the limited radiobiology data and knowledge of galactic cosmic ray (GCR) heavy ions, which causes estimates of the risk of late effects to be highly uncertain. Risk projections involve a product of many biological and physical factors, each of which has a differential range of uncertainty due to lack of data and knowledge. Within the linear-additivity model, we use Monte-Carlo sampling from subjective uncertainty distributions in each factor to obtain a Maximum Likelihood estimate of the overall uncertainty in risk projections. The resulting methodology is applied to several human space exploration mission scenarios including ISS, lunar station, deep space outpost, and Mar's missions of duration of 360, 660, and 1000 days. The major results are the quantification of the uncertainties in current risk estimates, the identification of factors that dominate risk projection uncertainties, and the development of a method to quantify candidate approaches to reduce uncertainties or mitigate risks. The large uncertainties in GCR risk projections lead to probability distributions of risk that mask any potential risk reduction using the "optimization" of shielding materials or configurations. In contrast, the design of shielding optimization approaches for solar particle events and trapped protons can be made at this time, and promising technologies can be shown to have merit using our approach. The methods used also make it possible to express risk management objectives in terms of quantitative objective's, i.e., the number of days in space without exceeding a given risk level within well defined confidence limits.

Cucinotta, F. A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Genotoxic Effects of Low- and High-LET Radiation on Human Epithelial Cells Grown in 2-D Versus 3-D Culture

Risk estimation for radiation-induced cancer relies heavily on human epidemiology data obtained from terrestrial irradiation incidents from sources such as medical and occupational exposures as well as from the atomic bomb survivors. No such data exists for exposures to the types and doses of high-LET radiation that will be encountered during space travel; therefore, risk assessment for space radiation requires the use of data derived from cell culture and animal models. The use of experimental models that most accurately replicate the response of human tissues is critical for precision in risk projections. This work compares the genotoxic effects of radiation on normal human epithelial cells grown in standard 2-D monolayer culture compared to 3-D organotypic co-culture conditions. These 3-D organotypic models mimic the morphological features, differentiation markers, and growth characteristics of fully-differentiated normal human tissue and are reproducible using defined components. Cultures were irradiated with 2 Gy low-LET gamma rays or varying doses of high-LET particle radiation and genotoxic damage was measured using a modified cytokinesis block micronucleus assay. Our results revealed a 2-fold increase in residual damage in 2 Gy gamma irradiated cells grown under organotypic culture conditions compared to monolayer culture. Irradiation with high-LET particle radiation gave similar results, while background levels of damage were comparable under both scenarios. These observations may be related to the phenomenon of "multicellular resistance" where cancer cells grown as 3-D spheroids or in vivo exhibit an increased resistance to killing by chemotherapeutic agents compared to the same cells grown in 2-D culture. A variety of factors are likely involved in mediating this process, including increased cell-cell communication, microenvironment influences, and changes in cell cycle kinetics that may promote survival of damaged cells in 3-D culture that would otherwise die or be rendered reproductively inactive in 2-D culture.

Patel, Z. S.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Improvements to the Ionizing Radiation Risk Assessment Program for NASA Astronauts

To perform dosimetry and risk assessment, NASA collects astronaut ionizing radiation exposure data from space flight, medical imaging and therapy, aviation training activities and prior occupational exposure histories. Career risk of exposure induced death (REID) from radiation is limited to 3 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. The Radiation Health Office at Johnson Space Center (JSC) is implementing a program to integrate the gathering, storage, analysis and reporting of astronaut ionizing radiation dose and risk data and records. This work has several motivations, including more efficient analyses and greater flexibility in testing and adopting new methods for evaluating risks. The foundation for these improvements is a set of software tools called the Astronaut Radiation Exposure Analysis System (AREAS). AREAS is a series of MATLAB(Registered TradeMark)-based dose and risk analysis modules that interface with an enterprise level SQL Server database by means of a secure web service. It communicates with other JSC medical and space weather databases to maintain data integrity and consistency across systems. AREAS is part of a larger NASA Space Medicine effort, the Mission Medical Integration Strategy, with the goal of collecting accurate, high-quality and detailed astronaut health data, and then securely, timely and reliably presenting it to medical support personnel. The modular approach to the AREAS design accommodates past, current, and future sources of data from active and passive detectors, space radiation transport algorithms, computational phantoms and cancer risk models. Revisions of the cancer risk model, new radiation detection equipment and improved anthropomorphic computational phantoms can be incorporated. Notable hardware updates include the Radiation Environment Monitor (which uses Medipix technology to report real-time, on-board dosimetry measurements), an updated Tissue-Equivalent Proportional Counter, and the Southwest Research Institute Radiation Assessment Detector. Also, the University of Florida hybrid phantoms, which are flexible in morphometry and positioning, are being explored as alternatives to the current NASA computational phantoms.

Semones, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Generic, Extensible, Configurable Push-Pull Framework for Large-Scale Science Missions

The push-pull framework was developed in hopes that an infrastructure would be created that could literally connect to any given remote site, and (given a set of restrictions) download files from that remote site based on those restrictions. The Cataloging and Archiving Service (CAS) has recently been re-architected and re-factored in its canonical services, including file management, workflow management, and resource management. Additionally, a generic CAS Crawling Framework was built based on motivation from Apache s open-source search engine project called Nutch. Nutch is an Apache effort to provide search engine services (akin to Google), including crawling, parsing, content analysis, and indexing. It has produced several stable software releases, and is currently used in production services at companies such as Yahoo, and at NASA's Planetary Data System. The CAS Crawling Framework supports many of the Nutch Crawler's generic services, including metadata extraction, crawling, and ingestion. However, one service that was not ported over from Nutch is a generic protocol layer service that allows the Nutch crawler to obtain content using protocol plug-ins that download content using implementations of remote protocols, such as HTTP, FTP, WinNT file system, HTTPS, etc. Such a generic protocol layer would greatly aid in the CAS Crawling Framework, as the layer would allow the framework to generically obtain content (i.e., data products) from remote sites using protocols such as FTP and others. Augmented with this capability, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) and NPP (NPOESS Preparatory Project) Sounder PEATE (Product Evaluation and Analysis Tools Elements) would be provided with an infrastructure to support generic FTP-based pull access to remote data products, obviating the need for any specialized software outside of the context of their existing process control systems. This extensible configurable framework was created in Java, and allows the use of different underlying communication middleware (at present, both XMLRPC, and RMI). In addition, the framework is entirely suitable in a multi-mission environment and is supporting both NPP Sounder PEATE and the OCO Mission. Both systems involve tasks such as high-throughput job processing, terabyte-scale data management, and science computing facilities. NPP Sounder PEATE is already using the push-pull framework to accept hundreds of gigabytes of IASI (infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer) data, and is in preparation to accept CRIMS (Cross-track Infrared Microwave Sounding Suite) data. OCO will leverage the framework to download MODIS, CloudSat, and other ancillary data products for use in the high-performance Level 2 Science Algorithm. The National Cancer Institute is also evaluating the framework for use in sharing and disseminating cancer research data through its Early Detection Research Network (EDRN).

Foster, Brian M.↗