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CERN for example uses MALT. What does NASA use where you need standard functions?

https://malt.web.cern.ch/malt/global/malt-table/

Specifically with standard functions I mean what you would use in any other office environment: write emails, letters, create and manage well searchable project documentation, manage spreadsheets for simple calculations/budgets where special data tools are not a requirement.

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    $\begingroup$ I don't work at NASA, but Microsoft Office is extremely common in the industry (and really the US as a whole), and I would be surprised if it wasn't the primary at NASA. $\endgroup$
    – called2voyage ♦
    Aug 27, 2019 at 12:28
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    $\begingroup$ There's a lot of in-house software written by NASA (and this list is only the publically available stuff). $\endgroup$
    – user21233
    Aug 27, 2019 at 12:47
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    $\begingroup$ @OrganicMarble Looks like that is what he was talking about. He's edited now. $\endgroup$
    – called2voyage ♦
    Aug 27, 2019 at 13:58
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    $\begingroup$ I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it’s about office software rather than space exploration. $\endgroup$
    – Russell Borogove
    Aug 27, 2019 at 14:09
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    $\begingroup$ @RussellBorogove We have had questions about ground work of space agencies not directly related to space before: space.stackexchange.com/q/26021/58. That said, the question as currently framed seems low utility, it doesn't provide any context in which it would seem to be helpful info to someone working in space exploration. $\endgroup$
    – called2voyage ♦
    Aug 27, 2019 at 14:30

1 Answer 1

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NASA's standard desktop office computer configuration is Windows 10 with Microsoft Office. This software is provided agency-wide by the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC). Here is an excerpt from the NASA-STD-2804 Fall 2017 MINIMUM INTEROPERABILITY SOFTWARE SUITE requirements document (the latest version available from the NSSC website to the general public).

enter image description here

It can vary. I worked for a time in a lab which used Linux office computers (managed by the lab itself), but the office computer setup most frequently encountered at NASA is a Win 10 / Microsoft setup managed by the NSSC.

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  • $\begingroup$ Weird, don't know why I always just assumed NASA would be a Linux shop for a lot of stuff. Also didn't know what ASCS meant or that they're using a non-serviced Windows version. Looks like NASA isn't too far off from my company on IT compliance :). Thanks for the info! $\endgroup$
    – Magic Octopus Urn
    Aug 27, 2019 at 21:11
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    $\begingroup$ @MagicOctopusUrn The majority of NASA office space (at JSC anyway) is a regular office environment pretty much like any other. Maybe worse, there's nothing like dealing with a giant government bureaucracy when you needed to get some software that's not on the approved list installed. They also had plenty of government approved spyware installed to slow your computer down. Working in that lab with the Linux boxes was far superior. $\endgroup$
    – Organic Marble
    Aug 27, 2019 at 21:16
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    $\begingroup$ I don't, unforts - just a critique of the answer as is the purpose of comments :) A disclaimer might fit $\endgroup$
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    Aug 27, 2019 at 22:56
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    $\begingroup$ and to people screaming that this is way old software, I worked for several government agencies for another country that shan't be mentioned back in 2017 and they were still in the process of upgrading their IT infrastructure TO Windows 7 from XP. $\endgroup$
    – jwenting
    Aug 28, 2019 at 4:17
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    $\begingroup$ It was also augmented somewhat recently by Office 365. $\endgroup$
    – CourageousPotato
    Aug 28, 2019 at 5:37

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