Data processing and archiving software for the Kepler mission

The Kepler Mission, a NASA Discovery mission scheduled for launch in 2008 November, will survey a 105 deg(2) field of view in the Cygnus-Lyra region of the Milky Way galaxy to detect and characterize hundreds of Earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone. The Kepler Data Management Center at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) will provide the data processing and archiving functions for the mission. Data processing consists of converting spacecraft telemetry into FITS data products, populating header keywords, and basic calibration of the data. The archive will save the original telemetry and science data products in several different forms to serve the principal investigator, guest observers, and the astronomical community at large. Extensive re-use of proven, multi-mission data processing and archive systems developed at STScI for the Hubble Space Telescope project will greatly reduce the development effort for the Kepler mission, and should result in fewer operational problems. This paper will discuss the software architecture and re-use plans for these Systems.