About MAST

The Multimission Archive at STScI supports a variety of astronomical data archives, with a primary focus on scientifically related data sets in the optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared parts of the spectrum. See http://archive.stsci.edu/missions.html for a full list of the mission, survey, and catalog data distributed by MAST. MAST is a component of NASA's distributed Space Science Data Services (SSDS).

Mission Statement: The staff of the archive branch and the multi-mission archive at STScI provides:

world-wide technical and scientific leadership in archive system design
secure storage and reliable retrieval services for data from HST and all MAST-supported missions
user-friendly and scientifically useful search and cross-correlation tools
development and support for inter-archive communication and data transfer standards
accurate and useful mission archive documentation
helpful user support services with a 1 business day response time
free public access to all our data products after any proprietary constraints are lifted

MAST archives a variety of spectral and image data with a range of data characteristics. To see a complete list of missions with data archived with MAST, click on the Mission Link in the top menu bar. MAST also provides a large suite of searches. In addition to customized searches for each mission, MAST provides several cross-mission searches.

MAST also archives sets of High-Level Science Products (HLSP). Users may search for High-Level Science Products by target or coordinates by using the HLSP search page. MAST actively solicits submission of High-Level Science Products related to our missions and we provide guidelines contributing them to MAST.

The MAST Users Group provides essential user perspectives on archive operations and development, including suggesting priorities for short and long term operational and scientific enhancements to the archive.

Although there is no cost involved in retrieving data from MAST, researchers are requested to include an acknowledgement (as shown in the MAST Data Use Policy) in publications that make use of MAST.

Below are links to some additional information about MAST: