Re: FITS for OPeNDAP?

[James Gallagher]

Ed,

I’d be very interested in that and might try to get NASA planetary division (JPL?) interested in Hyrax. Before you start, there is already a FITS handler in the BES but I don’t think we build it since it didn’t get much use. Here’s the first part of the README:

Updated for Version 1.0.11

This is the OPeNDAP fits Data Handler. It is used along with OPeNDAP's
Hyrax data server.

The thing is, since it didn’t get much use, it never ‘got better’ and thus never left the realm of "it’s a nice idea" to "this works really well.” My memory is that the code (yes/modules/fits_handler) was written at/by HAO/UCAR back when the BES was first started.

Let me know how you want to proceed.

Best,

James

PS. I CC’d support so that others will know and can chime in. 

On Jul 6, 2026, at 10:52 AM, Ed Hartnett <edwardjam...@gmail.com> wrote:

Howdy James,

I just wrote a netcdf-c dispatch layer that reads FITS, the NASA planetary mission format.

I'm surprised to see that hyrax does not seem to have a FITS reader. If I wrote one, would you accept it?

(I'm surprised because I would have thought that NASA using OPeNDAP for planetary data would be a no-brainer. Maybe they don't because FITS data has been relatively small?)

Thanks,

Ed

--

James Gallagher

jgall...@opendap.org

[Ed Hartnett]

Howdy all!

I recently added FITS support to the NetCDF Expansion Pack. However, it turns out this is not enough. NASA/ESA has a two-file format called PDS4 (Planetary Data System 4), which includes an XML file, and then maybe a FITS file, maybe some other stuff.

So now I'm adding PDS4 to the NetCDF Expansion Pack. 

My ultimate goal is that netCDF should support all NASA data. I want to have this working by the end of the year, in support of the BepiColumbo mission, an ESA/JAXA Mercury orbiter which will be in orbit around the swiftest planet in 2027.

One way that BES could instantly get this would be simply to install the NEP and then netCDF will magically read PDS4 files. Certainly this can be done as a prototype to see if there is interest. And perhaps that's all we need.

One reason the planetary people would start being interested in OPeNDAP is the increased amount of data available from modern instruments and space platforms, for example, BepiColumbo, which will have 200 GB data per year. That's starting to add up!

Thanks,
Ed