Hubble space telescope data analysis in Europe

ESA has, in cooperation with the European Southern Observatory, established the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF), with the explicit task of improving the data analysis situation. The European data analysis software situation is characterized by organizational and technological incompatibilities. This paper describes the concepts which were developed together with other European centers and with the Space Telescope Science Institute (ST ScI), to maintain compatibility on various different levels: data, applications programs, and command language. Perhaps the most important single development within the ST-ECF is the European HST Science Data Archive. This is a joint project with the ST ScI and covers the management and transfer to Europe of HST science data. The archive is based on dedicated Data Base Management hardware, and an optical disk data storage facility. The paper describes the implementation of the archive in a VAX/VMS environment and the interfaces to the data analysis system.