NASA releases bunch of free softwares and Earthly applications for the general public

The US space agency NASA has launched its software catalog for the upcoming fiscal year 2017-2018, where it will offer several applications and softwares to the general public free of cost and without charging any royalty or copyright fees.

In the press release, the American space agencies revealed that the wide range of softwares are available both online and offline in hard copies. It will be the third time when all centres of the NASA including centers on data processing/storage, business systems, operations, propulsion and aeronautics, have contributed in the yearly release.

Scientists at NASA have used these softwares for space explorations and unraveling the mysteries of the universe. What’s striking is that many of them are copyrighted and will be released for the first time for public use. Each catalog entry is accompanied with a plain language description of what it does.

“The software catalog is our way of supporting the innovation economy by granting access to tools used by today’s top aerospace professionals to entrepreneurs, small businesses, academia and industry,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) in Washington. “Access to these software codes has the potential to generate tangible benefits that create American jobs, earn revenue and save lives.”

NASA published the first edition of its software catalog in April 2014, becoming the first comprehensive listing of publicly available software to be compiled by a federal government agency — the largest creator of custom code. Since then, NASA has shared thousands of its software programs with students, industry, individuals and other government agencies.

“Software has been a critical component of each of NASA’s mission successes and scientific discoveries. In fact, more than 30 percent of all reported NASA innovations are software,” said Dan Lockney, NASA’s Technology Transfer program executive. “We’re pleased to transfer these tools to other sectors and excited at the prospect of seeing them implemented in new and creative ways.”

Some of the software available include codes for more advanced drones, and quieter aircraft. While access restrictions apply to some codes, NASA has automated and updated its software release process over the last two years to ensure that it is as quick, easy and straightforward as possible.

The software catalog is a product of NASA’s Technology Transfer program, managed for the agency by STMD. The program ensures technologies developed for missions