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CONTRIBUTION Process

Thank you for sharing your astrobiology data on AHED! To help you in the process, the information below shows how to:

First time users without NASA badge (NASA Smartcard or AUID), must create a NASA Guest Account to register in AHED. Approval will be dependent on the user’s established association with the astrobiology community, including their relationship to existing astrobiology-relevant projects, academic institutions, government laboratories, non-profit organizations, private foundation or industry. 

  1. Create a NASA Guest account. We recommend using an institutional email when you set up the account.
  2. Once the account has been created, it needs to be registered with AHED. Click on Sign in with Launchpad, select Agency User ID option and use the email and password on your NASA Guest account.
  3. Fill out and submit the registration form. Our team will review the information and contact you shortly via email.
  4. Once your account has been approved, use Sign in with NASA Launchpad to log in into AHED. 

For NASA badge users NO registration is required. Directly log in with NASA launchpad credentials.​ See Instructions.

Login is only required to Contribute. Users can login using NASA Launchpad with their NASA Smartcard or Agency ID and Password or using their  NASA Guest Account credentials (after registration and approval). ​ See Instructions.

Dataset metadata is very important to make datasets discoverable through the AHED Explore tools. It also helps people to understand and make proper use of the data. AHED has created an astrobiology specific standardized metadata framework called ARMS (Astrobiology Resource Metadata Standard). A comprehensive step-by-step wizard has been designed to assist users in providing the metadata and uploading data. The more information is provided, the easier it will be for others to find your dataset in AHED. Fields marked with (*) are required.

  • Description: Providing a detailed description will make it easier to find the dataset in AHED.
    • Name your database*: Title of the dataset. Make sure to be as descriptive as possible. It will help others while searching for datasets.
    • Dataset Description*: Short description of the dataset. Including type of data, technical and methodological information, and field location (if applicable) might help others to understand at a first glance the content of the dataset.
    • Dataset logo: The logo will be used in the dataset landing page and as a thumbnail in the search page. Choose an image that best represents the dataset, such as a fieldwork photo, an image of a microbial feature, a photo of an instrument, etc.. Supported image formats include: JPEG, PNG. Max. size: 5 MB
      • Photo credit: The photo credit identifies the photographer, illustrator, or copyright holder for the image.
    • Fieldwork Location: If data has been generated during research at a field site, location information about the field site will make the dataset discovered through the AHED map tool. Several locations are allowed.
      • Location name: Name of the location at the field site. Examples: El Tatio, Atacama desert, Chile; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
      • Geo-coordinates: Latitude and longitude in format (x.xxx, y.yyy)
  • Data*: There are two different options to make data accessible through an AHED dataset:
    • File Upload: Users can upload files directly from their computers, up to 20GB of data.
    • URL: Users can provide URLs, for example, other databases where their data is already publicly available, DOI’s of related manuscripts, project’s website, etc.
    We recommend checking the TIPS TO PREPARE YOUR DATA for more information about how to prepare the data.
  • Astrobiology: ARMS includes metadata specific to astrobiology, which is used to facilitate dataset search and discovery through the AHED Explore tools. These fields provided pre-defined lists.
    • Discipline: A set of astrobiology disciplines most relevant to the research that produced this dataset. A list of astrobiology related disciplines is provided.
    • Research theme: Each theme represents a NASA Astrobiology Program Research Topic defined in the 2015 NASA Astrobiology Strategy Document. Each of these themes is searchable through the different sections in the Astrobiology Illustration Explore tool, which represents the host of natural phenomena that have collectively created life as we know it.
    • Astrobiology Keywords: A set of keywords that best characterize this dataset. More than 800 astrobiology keywords are available. To help users find and select keywords, they are organized hierarchically, under a top-level structure of 11 categories.
  • Team: People involved in producing the data should be included here. Name, email address, institutional affiliation are required.
    • Role: Lead Investigator, Point of Contact and/or a Student.
    When the dataset is published, all team members will receive a notification message giving them the option to register and login in AHED.
  • Funding: Including information about the source(s) that provided funds for the development of the dataset as well as the mission/project related will help NASA headquarters, program managers and proposers to search for datasets related to specific programs, missions and projects.
    • Funding source*: A set of government and private programs that funded this dataset. Users can select more than one funding source from the provided list.
    • Mission/projects: A list of missions and projects is provided. Users can select N/A if no mission or project is associated with the development of the dataset.
  • Review & Publish: In this step, users can check the landing page of their dataset as it will be seen by others. This is a chance to review all the metadata and data provided through the wizard. Users can edit any of the sections by using the back button or clicking on any other wizard icons on top of the page.
    We offer the option to make the dataset private while you are still working on your dataset or pending a related article’s publication. After selecting this option, you will be able to access your dataset through "My Datasets" and change the status to public at any time.Published datasets are permanently archived and available so they cannot be deleted or unpublished. See How can I delete a published dataset.

AHED data downloaded and used in publications should be acknowledged and referenced according to AHED’s Terms and Conditions. Recommended citation format is provided on the dataset landing page.

Existing datasets (private or published) can be edited by the creator . To add edits, additional data, or subsequent related work, once logged in, users will have access to the “My Datasets” menu, where they will see their list of datasets and will be able to edit based on their role and permissions. "How can I edit my datasets?"