The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) has accumulated, over the last 20 years, several 100 Gigabytes of astrophysics and astronomy data sets and catalogs in digital form and thousands of feet of film. The astrophysics data in the NSSDC archive comes from such international spacecraft missions as the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS). In addition to the large astrophysics data holdings, there are several hundred astronomy catalogs of stars and galaxies in the NSSDC archive.
The NSSDC is a long term archive which has the responsibility of being a permanent NASA facility. The NSSDC data holdings are undergoing periodic media replacement.
The chapter discusses the following items: