NASA Pledges Open Access to All Artemis Moon Science

NASA says the science produced from every Moon rock sample, lunar dataset and discovery under its Artemis program will be shared with the global scientific community, a commitment upheld by all 71 countries that have signed the Artemis Accords — a set of principles for safe, transparent civil space exploration.

The agency put that principle into practice with a two-part virtual workshop series that ran from July 28 to Sept. 8, focused on the timely release of scientific data to the public and the international science community. The sessions built on discussions the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) led in May, when Artemis Accords signatories first explored ways to advance open data practices.

NASA split the follow-up discussion into two sessions so technical experts from around the world could take part. The first covered open science principles and implementation practices, aiming to boost interoperability, reproducibility, accessibility and transparency in Artemis-related work. The second focused on tools for open science, giving signatories a working model to reference — including NASA's Planetary Data System archive, openly available lunar data, and data visualization and analysis tools.

"As we return humans to the Moon, our Artemis efforts will help us unlock the full potential of scientific discovery through transparency, collaboration, and accessibility," said Jacob Bleacher, NASA's chief exploration scientist. Andrew Mitchell, NASA's deputy chief science data officer, said the workshops gave partners "practical tools and a shared foundation to build on as we move forward together," and that open science requires a shift toward a more transparent, collaborative scientific process.

NASA and the U.S. State Department established the Artemis Accords with seven other founding nations in 2020. The accords, now signed by 71 countries, commit signatories to explore peaceably and transparently, render aid to those in need, enable access to scientific data, avoid interfering with others' activities, and preserve historically significant sites and artifacts.