Automated Continuous NASA Replication to Local Delimited Files

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use CData Sync for automated, continuous, customizable NASA replication to delimited files (CSV/TSV).

Always-on applications rely on automatic failover capabilities and real-time data access. CData Sync integrates live NASA data into local delimited files (CSV/TSV), allowing you to consolidate all of your data into a single location for archiving, reporting, analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence and more.

Configure CSV/TSV as a Replication Destination

Using CData Sync, you can replicate NASA data to delimited files, like CSV or TSV. To add a replication destination, navigate to the Connections tab.

  1. Click Add Connection.
  2. Select CSV as a destination.
  3. Enter the necessary connection properties. To connect to a directory for storing delimited files, set the following:
    • Destination Folder: Set this location on the disk for the delimited files.
    • Include Column Headers: Set this to True for the first row in each file to represent the column names.
  4. Click Test Connection to ensure that the connection is configured properly.
  5. Click Save Changes.

Configure the NASA Connection

You can configure a connection to NASA from the Connections tab. To add a connection to your NASA account, navigate to the Connections tab.

  1. Click Add Connection.
  2. Select a source (NASA).
  3. Configure the connection properties.

    Using API Key Authentication

    Most NASA API endpoints (APOD, NeoWS, DONKI, TechTransfer) require a NASA API key. Register for a free key at https://api.nasa.gov. The default DEMO_KEY provides limited access (30 requests/hour, 50 requests/day); a registered key allows 1,000 requests/hour.

    The following endpoints do not require an API key and work without authentication: EONET (Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker), EPIC (Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera), NASA Image and Video Library, and TechPort.

    After obtaining your API key, set the following connection properties:

    • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
    • APIKey: Set this to your NASA API key. Use DEMO_KEY for limited testing.

    Example Connection String

    Profile=C:\profiles\NASA.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;APIKey=YOUR_NASA_API_KEY
    

    Connecting to NASA

    Once the authentication is configured, you can connect to NASA and query data from any of the available tables such as AstronomyPictureOfDay, NearEarthObjectFeed, EonetEvents, and NasaImageLibrary.

  4. Click Connect to ensure that the connection is configured properly.
  5. Click Save Changes.

Configure Replication Queries

CData Sync enables you to control replication with a point-and-click interface and with SQL queries. For each replication you wish to configure, navigate to the Jobs tab and click Add Job. Select the Source and Destination for your replication.

Replicate Entire Tables

To replicate an entire table, click Add Tables in the Tables section, choose the table(s) you wish to replicate, and click Add Selected Tables.

Customize Your Replication

You can use the Columns and Query tabs of a task to customize your replication. The Columns tab allows you to specify which columns to replicate, rename the columns at the destination, and even perform operations on the source data before replicating. The Query tab allows you to add filters, grouping, and sorting to the replication.

Schedule Your Replication

In the Schedule section, you can schedule a job to run automatically, configuring the job to run after specified intervals ranging from once every 10 minutes to once every month.

Once you have configured the replication job, click Save Changes. You can configure any number of jobs to manage the replication of your NASA data to delimited files.

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