ROCKVILLE, MD -- The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) has reached an agreement with Celera Genomics Group, an Applera Corporation business in Rockville, MD, on the use of AURA's Operational Pipeline Unified Systems (OPUS) software package. Originally designed for use in the Hubble Space Telescope program, OPUS is being used by Celera to process bioinformatics data. OPUS was developed by the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is managed by AURA under contract with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. It is used to process astronomical data generated by the Hubble Space Telescope for use by researchers studying the universe, and it has been widely employed in other space observatories and NASA projects. Facing similar needs for the use of their large databases, Celera is licensing OPUS from AURA to assist in the processing of data from their proteomics and genomics projects. "OPUS is an example of how the highly talented engineers working on the space program can invent products of practical benefit to such diverse enterprises as biological research, medicine, and industry," said Steven Beckwith, Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute. "We are delighted that the Hubble Space Telescope program produced this commercial benefit to complement its scientific research." "Celera has found OPUS to be a cost-effective solution that has cut software system deployment time and saved in-house development effort, thus freeing software engineering resources for other tasks," said John Reynders, Celera's vice president, information systems. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), for NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international co-operation between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). The Celera Genomics Group is an Applera Corporation business in Rockville, MD.