NASA Releases Thousands of Software Codes for Free to the Public

Computer software is a highly sought after and valuable resource, but this week NASA announced that, as part of its Technology Transfer Program, the agency is making over software 1,000 codes available for free to the public.

The free software will be available in a new online software catalog beginning on Thursday, April 10. The online catalog is organized into fifteen broad categories, covering a wide array of applications for use by industry, academia, other government agencies, and the general public.

“Software is an increasingly important element of the agency’s intellectual asset portfolio, making up about a third of our reported inventions every year,” said Jim Adams, NASA’s deputy chief technologist. “We are excited to be able to make that software widely available to the public with the release of our new software catalog.”

The free software codes found in the online catalog represent NASA’s best solutions to a wide array of complex mission requirements and include:

– project management systems
– design tools
– data handling
– image processing
– life support functions
– aeronautics
– structural analysis
– robotics
– autonomous systems

“NASA is committed to the principles of open government,” said Adams. “By making NASA resources more accessible and usable by the public, we are encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. Our technology transfer program is an important part of bringing the benefit of space exploration back to Earth for the benefit of all people.”

The Technology Transfer Program is managed by the Office of the Chief Technologist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Its mission is to ensure that technologies developed for exploration and discovery missions are broadly available to the public. Individuals can gains access the software catalog, and learn more about NASA’s Tech Transfer program, by going online to http://technology.nasa.gov.