Draft for review. These pages are being reviewed before the Operational Readiness Review. Some answers are still open and are marked on the page. Please send corrections to the Research Platform team.
The Research Platform is a ready-to-use science computing workspace in the cloud. You open it in your web browser at rp.sciencecloud.nasa.gov, and you can write and run code, use large amounts of data, and work with AI help — without buying, building, or maintaining any computers.
It is a service inside the Science Cloud. It is open to any SMD-funded project, and it has been operational since 15 August 2026.
User documentation
| Page | What it answers |
|---|---|
| What is the Research Platform? | What it is, and what problem it solves |
| What it does today, and what is coming | Current capabilities, and the roadmap without dates |
| How to get access | For a new project, for a new member, and for partners |
| How you pay for it | Funding, what is charged, and what is not |
| How to use the platform — your first day | A walkthrough, in order, from login to shutting down |
| The tools inside JupyterLab — a reference | The same ground, one section per tool, with examples |
| Working together on the same notebook | Real-time collaboration: how it works and what it costs |
| Notebook Intelligence and your LLMs | The AI assistant, and how to connect a model |
Still being written
- RPAdmin — the admin console: What a project admin does there.
- How the platform is built and deployed: The open source parts, and Terraform.
- Other things worth knowing: Support, limits, and good practice.
Need help?
Email support@sciencecloud.nasa.gov, or visit the Science Cloud Support Portal.