MAST Minimum Recommended Products explained.

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Recommended Data Products

Of the many different data products produced by the science calibration pipeline, a subset has been identified as essential for extracting the intended science from the data, or for users who wish to recalibrate lower-level products with the calibration pipeline on their own platforms. These are termed the minimum recommended products (MRP). The selection of data products that are included in this set depends upon the instrument used to obtain the data, its configuration and operating mode, and the level to which the observations have been calibrated. Generally, products in the MRP include the most calibrated science product (i.e., those for which the instrumental signature has been removed) along with the associated data products.

Products not included in the MRP set supplement science investigations, or help users assess the quality of the science data products. Depending on the Mission, such products might include:

  • contemporaneous guide-star data
  • target acquisition images
  • thumbnail (preview) images of science products
  • calibration reference files
The MRP selection is the default for Portal operations. Thus, if you choose a direct (streaming) download of data from the main Portal results page, the download bundle will include only products in the MRP list.

MRP in the Portal

Data Product Category

Minimum Recommended products may be selected in the Download Manager with a Filter checkbox. Choosing MRP will:

  1. Expose data products that are most relevant for science analysis, and
  2. Reduce the volume of (often large) files to be transferred to your machine

The MRP checkbox in the Download Manager must be de-selected in order to view intermediate-level data products and ancillary products. This selection will be remembered for subsequent downloads during the same Portal session.


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