NASA Exoplanet Archive Adds Data from Largest Mass Confirmation of TESS Planets to Date

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observes nearly the whole sky to detect planets orbiting nearby stars. On April 23, the NASA Exoplanet Archive announced that it had added parameters for 114 planets newly confirmed from TESS data. A team at the University of Warwick validated the planets in the largest mass confirmation of TESS exoplanets so far.

The Exoplanet Archive created a pre-filtered and pre-sorted interactive table for users to explore the new planets from this data release. For more recent updates about exoplanet data, visit the NASA Exoplanet Archive News page.

Open Science Data Repository Releases New and Updated Pipelines for Metagenomics Data Processing

The Open Science Data Repository (OSDR), NASA’s flagship repository for biological data, released two new metagenomics pipelines for long-read (GL-DPPD-7116) and short-read (GL-DPPD-7117) sequencing platforms. The team also released an updated version of the standard Illumina Metagenomics pipeline (GL-DPPD-7107-B).

These workflows support more standardized and comprehensive analysis of low biomass samples by introducing improved contamination control. Using both control samples and statistical modeling, the workflows help distinguish true biological signals from background contamination.

Various tools and approaches were investigated before arriving at the consensus pipelines for low biomass samples, and the results of these tests are publicly available on the OSDR:

• OSD-890 - Planetary Protection Low Biomass Nanopore Pilot Study: a pilot study for long-read sequencing optimization and pipeline development
• OSD-944 - JPL Mars Exploration Program Interlab Cleanroom Metagenomics: a pilot study characterizing low-biomass samples from NASA cleanroom environments using both long and short-read sequencing

These pipelines establish a reproducible framework for analyzing contamination prone datasets, and they will be integrated into a Nextflow workflow for streamlined use. All low biomass datasets in OSDR will be reprocessed using this standardized approach, enabling the pipelines to support mission critical applications such as planetary protection and environmental monitoring.

MAST Archive Releases 5 New and Updated High-Level Science Products for Astrophysics

The Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) publishes open data from NASA astrophysics missions such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. It also includes publicly available High Level Science Products (HSLPs) that researchers have derived from NASA astrophysics missions, including models, catalogs, and observations.

In the month of April, MAST released two new HSLPs:

• HST Imaging of Ionized Filaments and Dust in NGC 504 (NGC5044-HST): A collection of data products derived from Hubble Space Telescope observations that analyzes the morphology of ionized gas filaments and dust structures in the center of the group galaxy NGC 5044.
• GALEX Hot Stars Catalog with Corollary Data (GUVCAT-HOTSTARS): a set of catalogs derived from 71,000 UV sources observed by NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), with FUV - NUV colors <= 0.1 mag that also have Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometry, corresponding to a stellar effective temperature above 20,000 Kelvin.

MAST also published updates to three HSLPs that were already in the archive. For more information about these HSLPs, read the article on the MAST website.

NASA's Earthdata Forum Releases New Filter Search Feature

The Earthdata Forum provides a central, online location where data users can interact with subject matter experts to discuss data applications, share their research needs, and get answers to specific questions about accessing and analyzing NASA Earth observation data.

The latest release of the Earthdata Forum (Version 3.3.2) now includes a Filter Search tool. The new feature allows users to search the filter categories of Discipline, Projects, and Services/Usage. This addition helps users easily identify desired options among the growing list of 150+ project acronyms currently available.

For more information about recent enhancements to the Earthdata Forum, read the news release on the Earthdata website.

Open Science Data Repository Team Releases Eleven Processed Datasets to Expand Space Biology Research

The Open Science Data Repository team curated and released eleven processed datasets in April. Now that these processed datasets are publicly available, they can be reanalyzed in the context of other datasets for the generation of new hypothesis and knowledge.

These datasets include:

• OSD-949: Skeletal muscle-specific inducible AMPKa1/a2 knockout mice develop muscle weakness, glycogen depletion, and fibrosis that persists during disuse atrophy
• OSD-935: Long non‐coding RNAs Kcnq1ot1 and Lncpint are involved in skeletal muscle atrophy induced by the space exposome
• OSD-811: Space microgravity increases expression of genes associated with proliferation and differentiation in human cardiac spheres
• OSD-876: Zfp697 is an RNA-binding protein that regulates skeletal muscle inflammation and remodeling
• OSD-825: Evaluating sex-specific responses to western diet across the lifespan: impact on cardiac function and transcriptomic signatures in C57BL/6J mice at 530 and 640/750 days of age
• OSD-880: Zfp697 is an RNA-binding protein that regulates skeletal muscle inflammation and remodeling - Zfp697 skeletal muscle knockout RNA-Seq of unloading-reloading protocol
• OSD-901: Expression data from cultured mouse spermatogonia cryopreserved on the International Space Station (ISS) or on Earth
• OSD-899: Transcriptional profiling of cecum from mice flown on the RR-10 mission
• OSD-720: Long-lasting sex-specific alteration in left ventricular cardiac transcriptome following gamma and simGCRsim radiation
• OSD-900: Transcriptional profiling of lungs from mice flown on the RR-10 mission
• OSD-940: Effects of simulated microgravity on colorectal cancer organoids growth and drug response

Explore more datasets through OSDR.