The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a U.S. government agency that is responsible for science and technology related to air and space. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) holds a unique place in the universe, as a leader in robotic space exploration, sending rovers to Mars, probes into the farthest reaches of the solar system, and satellites to advance understanding of our home planet. In the pursuit of their mission objectives in aeronautics and space exploration, NASA and JPL continue pushing the boundaries of their own foundations. Often, new technologies are needed to either enhance current capabilities or enable future ones.
Technologies Used:
Short description of project/implementation:
NASA and JPL use Apache Kafka to share alerts with the astronomy research community about things that go "boom" in space.
What problem was the nominee organization looking to solve with Data Streaming Technology?
They wanted to disseminate real-time observations, near-term predictions, requests for follow-up observations, and observing plans to leverage the technology and foster collaboration with the international research community using a standard technology.
How did they solve the problem?
The team leveraged Apache Kafka, including the recent addition of OAuth, to allow thousands of astronomers from around the world to subscribe to the notices and circulars being generated.
Positive outcome:
GCN is now aligned with the wide adoption of Apache Kafka in the astronomy community, which makes it even easier for others to participate in the community of space- and ground-based observatories, physics experiments, and thousands of astronomers around the world.
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