The SPICE tools, generic kernels, mission operations kernels for those
missions where NAIF has a funded ops role, and kernels archived at the
NAIF node of the PDS, are freely available to all. However, anyone contemplating
using these products must take into consideration that assistance from
the NAIF staff in using these products, including solving user problems that
seem related to SPICE, is restricted to those activities where the NAIF group is
specifically authorized and funded to supply such support. While NAIF would prefer to provide
unlimited support to everyone, we haven't the human resources and authorization to do
so.
What we can do is the following.
- As members of the navigation node of NASA's Planetary Data System, NAIF staff provide modest consultation to scientists who are using
archived SPICE kernels and Toolkit software in pursuit of planetary science data analysis funded by NASA's Planetary Science Division.
"Modest" is the operable word here. NAIF has provided substantial documentation, tutorials and lessons to help you learn to use SPICE. Admittedly, your doing so takes non-trivial effort. But with only four people on the NAIF Team we cannot provide more than modest consultation.
- For anyone who will be preparing an official SPICE archive for one of the NASA Planetary Science Division's flight projects, NAIF can provide a
SPICE Archive Guide
along with tools and examples. As the Navigation Node of the PDS,
NAIF will conduct a review of the proposed archive process, and will review incremental data set submittals from the flight project.
Once each data set increment has passed review, NAIF will ingest it and make it available to the worldwide planetary science community from the NAIF Node of the Planetary Data System.
IMPORTANT NOTE: this is only an archive preparation service; it does not provide for instruction on the production, validation or use of SPICE kernels.
The archive guide and associated tools are free and offered to anyone who wishes to use them on their own.
- When hired by a NASA flight project to deploy and operate SPICE capabilities,
NAIF staff will provide to flight team scientists and engineers associated
with that project SPICE-related support consistent with the scope of work and budget negotiated with the project.
- In a few cases NASA, in agreement with a foreign space agency, has provided funding for NAIF to consult on SPICE-related issues. Whether or not any such arrangements will be made in the future is a matter for NASA's Planetary Science Division and the foreign space agency to work out.
- While the circumstances are varied, space agencies using SPICE usually have one or more local SPICE experts who should be consulted before contacting NAIF.
Links to SPICE leaders for ESA, RSA and JAXA are found here.
A table summarizing those flight projects and other endeavors for which
NAIF staff are currently authorized to provide help can be
viewed here (PDF format).
Any flight project or other activity that wishes to consider hiring NAIF,
whether to configure, deploy and operate some level of the SPICE capability,
or to simply provide a consulting service for others who are implementing SPICE,
should contact the NAIF manager.
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