This page is a compilation of questions and answers to the most common problems that users have experienced when using the HSA.

Clicking on a question will take you down the page to the answer. If you want to find the answer to another question, either scroll through the page manually, or use your browser's 'Back' button to return to the list.

Q1. I have forgotten the password of my HSA account. What can I do?

Q2. I have downloaded FITS files in a TAR archive from the HSA, but they are corrupted. How can I fix them?

Q3. I have downloaded FITS files in a TAR archive from the HSA, but when untaring it I get the message "lone zero block".

Q4. I cannot send data from HSA to HIPE through SAMP

Q5. I know an obsid that exists but the HSA does not give any result

Q6. How can I retrieve Herschel data in command line/batch mode?

If you require further information, please contact the Herschel Helpdesk who will be happy to deal with your enquiry.

Q1. I have forgotten the password of my HSA account. What can I do?
A1. Got to https://cas.cosmos.esa.int/cas/passwd and reset your password

Q2. I have downloaded FITS files in a TAR archive from the HSA, but they are corrupted. How can I fix them?
A2. You probably used WinZip, or some equivalent compression software, in Windows. WinZip has an option called TAR file smart CR/LF conversion, in the Miscellaneous tab of the Configuration dialogue window (at least for version 12.0), that is enabled by default and causes the corruption. Just disable the option to solve this problem. For more information, please see the Data Analysis Guide: Section 1.2.9, "Corrupted FITS file after unzipping"

Q3. I have downloaded FITS files in a TAR archive from the HSA, but when untaring it I get the message "lone zero block".
A3. The untaring (depending on the command used to untar) could give a "lone zero block" message at the end. This message can be ignored. The tar is correctly untared and there are no problems with the FITS files.

Q4. I cannot send data from HSA to HIPE through SAMP
A4. To establish the SAMP connection between HSA and HIPE follow the steps given in this video:
1. Open the HSA Interface (http://archives.esac.esa.int/hsa/whsa)
2. Open the SAMP Hub
3. Open HIPE
4. Send data from HSA to HIPE
Note that HIPE and any SAMP connection opened by HIPE should be closed before starting the SAMP connection with the HSA interface. 

Q5. I know an obsid that exists but the HSA does not give any result
A5. By default the HSA only shows observations taken in standard modes and which are not considered FAILED during the Data Quality Control Assessment. Check whether the obsid you know is a non-standard observation and/or if it was declared FAILED by deselecting both fields in the HSA User Interface. 

Q6. How can I retrieve Herschel data in command line/batch mode?
A6. The HSA provides a TAP (Table Access Protocol) service which is a command line access to the HSA content.
It can be used with "curl" to access the data like:

curl "http://archives.esac.esa.int/hsa/whsa-tap-server/data?RETRIEVAL_TYPE=OBSERVATION&OBSERVATION_ID=1342263852&INSTRUMENT_NAME=SPIRE&COMPRESS=true" > output_file.tgz

This example will provide you with all the products of observation 1342263852 in a compressed tar file.

curl "http://archives.esac.esa.int/hsa/whsa-tap-server/data?RETRIEVAL_TYPE=OBSERVATION&OBSERVATION_ID=1342263852&INSTRUMENT_NAME=SPIRE&PRODUCT_LEVEL=2_5&COMPRESS=true" > output_file.tgz

In this case only level2.5 products of the same observation 1342263852 would be retrieved.