MoonDB was an online accessible, quality-controlled data system that synthesized analytical data acquired on lunar samples to make them accessible in a single data product so they can be mined and integrated into digital research data infrastructure, thus augmenting their value for future science.

MoonDB preserved and restored lunar sample data that have been scattered across the scientific literature, in online PDF documents, and in private files, but it also serves as a home for new data generated on samples allocated to a global community of researchers by the Curation and Analysis Planning Team for Extraterrestrial Materials (CAPTEM), so that these data can be made openly accessible in compliance with US federal mandates for open access to research results while being seamlessly integrated with the historical data.

The lunar sample data from MoonDB are now part of the Astromaterials Data System via the AstroMat Search application. To access the original MoonDB search interface, see http://search.moondb.org/ and the MoonDB API at http://api.moondb.org/.

Over the course of 5 years, data from approximately 1,500 publications that contain laboratory analyses for the Lunar, Antarctic Meteorite, Cosmic Dust, Genesis, Hayabusa, Stardust, and Microparticle Impact collections will be compiled into the AstroDB synthesis, together with a wide range of information pertaining to the provenance of the analytical measurements (e.g., analytical instrumentation, laboratory, sample preparation procedures, instrument calibration, data reduction) and to the quality of the data. Focus will initially be on geochemical, mineralogical, and geochronological data, but content will be extended later to include additional data types such as experimental petrology, images, and spectrography.

Content of the MoonDB database of lunar sample data, which has already been compiled over the past 4 years with funding from two NASA awards, will be integrated into AstroDB.

We encourage researchers to contribute their data, especially unpublished historical data, to AstroDB. Please contact us at info@astromat.org.

The development of the Astromaterials Data System will be ongoing over 5 years with different project components progressing in parallel in three development phases to successively develop and implement the various system components and incorporate data for all collections. For each development phase, we have identified major milestones for the different project components. The timing of deliverables accounts for the interdependence of system components.

See below for our progress updates. Also check out the project timeline and system components for more information.

07/01/2020

• Completed development of and released new AstroMat web site
• Completed development of and released AstroSearch version 1
• Completed development of and released AstroAdmin version 1
• Completing development of AstroMat Repository, to be released July 2020
• Continued development of AstroMat Index
• Continued development of AstroPages

04/01/2020

• We held a virtual Town Hall webinar originally planned for LPSC 2020.
• Created the initial mockups for the AstroSearch
• Continued development of Astromat Repository
• Completed the development of a module for configuring data entry schemas and workflows for different types of samples and analytical methods interface

01/01/2020

• AstroAdmin: Multiple modules of the AstroAdmin data entry tool have been completed and are now in testing, e.g. module to configure data entry schemas and workflows for different types of samples and analytical methods; module to enter sample metadata
• AstroSearch: The design of the search interface for AstroDB has started and initial mockups will be presented at the LPSC 2020 Town Hall of the Astromaterials Data System
• AstroVoc: A central vocabulary management system has been set up. TemaTres, an Open Source vocabulary management system, has been deployed in the new Docker EE environment
• Three new staff members joined the Astromat team

10/01/2019

• Development of AstroAdmin Version 1.0: Completed modules for entry of citation, dataset metadata, analysis action, vocabularies
• Development of AstroPage Version 1.0: Completed information pages that display metadata for citations and datasets
• Configuration, deployment, and testing of the development environment for AstroDB, AstroRef, AstroPage, and AstroAPI in the Docker EE environment
• Migration of MoonDB data to AstroDB (95% complete, Astromat data curators are currently testing the integrity of migrated content)
• Development of AstroSearch Version 1.0: Initial design of user interface layout

07/01/2019

• Refinement the original MoonDB schema for AstroDB
• Development of AstroRef. (Version 1.0) bibliographical catalog
• Development of AstroAPI (Version 1.0)
• Hosted Town Hall Transforming Access to Astromaterial Data: NASA’s Astromaterial Data System at the LPSC Meeting in Houston in March 2019
• Presentation of MoonDB: 50 Years of Lunar Sample Data Ready for the Data Revolution at the LPSC Meeting in Houston in March 2019

03/14/2019

• Release of the Astromaterials Data System website
• Release of Bibliography module of AstroDB