I recently gave a presentation on the state of USGS Astro Software. Specifically on the progress we made this year and what we plan to do next year.
The slides can be seen here: presentations/ASC-Software-FY26-Update.pdf · main · astrogeology / Astro Software TC · GitLab
Text summary:
In ISIS 10.0.0:
- Native GTIFF Support
- Native VSICURL/S3 support for remote files
- Chandrayaan-2 TMC-2 and OHRC Support
- Shadowcam Support (thanks to Intuitive Machines)
Coming in 10.1.0
- 10x Bundle adjustment speedup
- ISISDATA-optional operations (you can unset ISISDATA, things still work with an internet connection or when no ISISDATA is actually needed)
- Native Parquet support for Control Networks
- Many Fixes
Not-ISIS updates:
- ISIS core functionality releasing in a new MiniSET library next year (no public repo yet). This will enable ISIS features in other tools (e.g., QGIS).
- StarDS format created, enables cloud optmized access to camera models and cnets. Write up on why we needed something custom coming later. still pre-1.0
- SpiceQL integrated into ISIS, now with web assembly bindings to enable SPICE kernel exploitation on web browsers.
State of Astro Software:
- Thanks to the hard work of the software team, we were able to complete all deliverables ahead of schedule
- We are seeing reduced output going into next year as team members assist other USGS facilities that are understaffed with non-NASA work.