About

Download NASA's Open Government Plan

NASA is expanding transparency, participation, and collaboration and creating a new level of openness and accountability. We are focusing on embedding open government into three integrated aspects of our operations—policy, technology, and culture. Whether NASA is using social networks to allow students to interact directly with astronauts, or creating a Cloud Computing Platform to give unprecedented access to scientific data, we have embraced the Open Government Directive.

About open.nasa.gov

open.nasa.gov is a collaborative platform for the open government community to share success stories and projects they are working on.  The content on this site is written by NASA employees and contractors across the agency. We are excited to highlight the ways that transparency, participation, and collaboration are being embraced by NASA policy, technology, and culture – and the amazing future that becomes possible because of that commitment.

How to use this site

• Visit the Authors page for more information about who we are.
• Visit the Data page for more information about NASA data sets available for public use.
• Visit the Plan page to view and download NASA’s Open Government Plan.
• Visit the Dashboard to evaluate our progress see NASA’s continuing efforts toward Open Government milestones.
• Coming soon!  Visit the “Contributing” page to learn how you can get involved. We invite your ideas, solutions, and comments on every element of our plan.

Highlights from NASA’s Open Government Plan

NASA’s founding legislation in 1958 instructed NASA to “…provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information…” The principles of open government have been embedded in our operations for 50+ years. We recognize that open government is a process rather than a product, and have taken a continuous-learning approach.

We believe that integrating Open Government Principles into existing systems (e.g., governance councils and performance management system) provides the best framework for success. Throughout the plan we establish a solid foundation for institutional change based on the five NASA Open Government principles:

1. Increase Agency transparency and accountability to external stakeholders.
2. Enable citizen participation in NASA’s mission.
3. Improve internal NASA collaboration and innovation.
4. Encourage partnerships than can create economic opportunity.
5. Institutionalize Open Government philosophies and practices at NASA.

NASA’s Open Government activities span 22 identified Agency projects across the centers, and 3 flagship initiatives will take the Initiative to a new level:

• Policy: NASA is working to make open source software development more collaborative at NASA to benefit both the Agency and the public.
• Technology: NASA Nebula, as the government’s first open-source cloud computing platform, offers an easier way for NASA scientists and researchers to share large, complex data sets with external partners and the public.
• Culture: The creation of a new NASA Participatory Exploration Office will infuse more public participation into NASA’s mission.