NASA Procedural Requirements

NPR 2210.1E Effective Date: June 14, 2023 Expiration Date: June 14, 2028

Subject: Release of NASA Software

Responsible Office: Space Technology Mission Directorate

Appendix A. Definitions

Click Wrap Agreement - A form of Software Usage Agreement used when providing the software over a computer network that requires a user to read and accept the terms of a usage agreement by selecting a particular icon or link or other digital prompt before the user may download, install, or use the software.

Computer Database - A collection of data in a form capable of being processed by a computer using a computer program performing the function of storing, manipulating, or formatting.

Computer Programs - A set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer to bring about a certain result.

Licensable Software - A software for which the U.S. Government owns a domestic or foreign copyright, or a patent application or issued patent claiming the software or the underlying process or method implemented by the software.

Mobile Applications - Mobile software solutions that access application data by utilizing the device's native interface user controls, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and Software Development Kits (SDKs). Mobile software solutions, which can be accessed by a browser on a mobile device. Internal (enterprise) mobile applications are designed specifically for use by the NASA workforce. External, or public, mobile applications are typically designed for broad distribution to the general public.

NASA Center 508 Coordinator - The person at a Center responsible for ensuring the Center's activities, which include software release, are compliant with The Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which amended Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The NASA Center 508 Coordinators are identified at www.nasa.gov/accessibility/.

New Technology Representative - Person who is designated to administer the "New Technology" or "Patent Rights" clause in procurement contracts and to receive disclosures by the contractor of subject inventions and reportable items made under the contract.

Object Code - Machine language; the programming language that is directly readable and executable by a computer, also referred to as Executable Code.

Open-Source Software - Software where the recipient is free to use the software for any purpose, to make copies of the software and to distribute the copies without payment of royalties, to modify the software and to distribute the modified software without payment of royalties, to access and use the source code of the software, and to combine the software with other software in accordance with Open-Source licenses/agreements. Open-Source Software is a subcategory of Publicly Releasable software.

Open-Source Software Development -

• The incorporation of external Open-Source Software into software developed by or for NASA; or
• The original development by or for NASA of software intended for Open-Source release.

Publicly Releasable Software - Software for which a recommendation of Public Release has been made to the SRA by the Office or Project that has the responsibility for the software, with concurrence by the designated organization for technology commercialization assessments (1.1.2.1), the Patent or IP Counsel, and the CEA, or their designees, and any other applicable officials required herein. Publicly Releasable Software may or may not be protected by a copyright or patent.

Scientific Research Demonstration Software - Software written to perform minor analyses of scientific concepts or experimental data that would be classified as Class E Software under NPR 7150.2. Such software is developed and used by NASA for the purpose of supporting the analysis presented within a scientific publication and has no other current NASA mission purpose at the time of publication. While the Authors/Innovators of such software are U.S. Government civil servants, such software may call third-party software scripts and libraries, but only where such scripts and libraries are provided under a permissive license that does not prohibit or qualify NASA's use and release. Such software may not incorporate any third-party software.

Software - In accordance with NPD 7120.4, software as used in this NPR for the purpose of the reporting, review, and assessment requirements of this NPR includes Computer Programs in both source and object code but does not include computer databases, software documentation, or technical papers unless they disclose code. Software includes scripts, tools and the like that cause a computing device to perform desired operations. Applicable software documentation may be released with the software.

Software Documentation - Documentation and data pertaining to the development and operation of software and that explains the capabilities of the software or provides operating instructions for using the software to obtain the desired results. Software Documentation may be provided as owner's manuals, user's manuals, installation instructions, operating instructions, anomalies, other similar items. Software Documentation may include design details, algorithms, processes, procedures, rules, flow charts, formulae, and related information that would enable particular NASA software, or functional equivalents thereof, to be reproduced or created. Premature release of such information may jeopardize intellectual property protection and commercialization of the software to which it relates. Thus, it is advisable that such information is not released unless the Patent or IP Counsel has approved the software for release.

Software Innovator - Person who designs and creates software and includes individuals contributing to the concept expressed by the software (i.e., the developers of the underlying functional method or process that is implemented by the software) as well as those individuals involved in coding the actual software.

Software Product Baseline - Baseline established at the completion of the Integration and Test Phase. Software Product Baseline is ready for acquirer acceptance testing and delivery. It includes the following:

• The tested code.
• Final versions of all products and documents.

Software Release Record - The form of documentation by which the release of NASA software is recorded. A Software Release Record contains the recipient's name, address, phone number, and e-mail address and the date of transfer, name, and version of the software transferred.

Software Usage Agreement (SUA) - The legal document issued by NASA that defines the terms and conditions of release. An SUA is signed or otherwise agreed to by the recipient to allow the recipient to receive the requested software.

Source Code - A representation of object code in a human-readable programming language such as BASIC, FORTRAN, C++, Ada, Java, and SQL.

Unrestricted Release - The unrestricted access to, or distribution of, software, including electronic transmission, to an individual or organization outside NASA or its contractors or grantees, without an appropriate SUA or release record. This type of release is not allowed by Agency policy.

Websites - Browser-based markup language documents that are linked together and accessed over the Internet. Websites can display text content, data, images, and video. They can also access system-specific features such as location-based mapping and include integrated databases and raw data input to or output from a computer program. A webpage is a single page/document of content on a website.

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