The Python Satellite Data Analysis Toolkit (pysat) makes it easy for scientists and everyday Python users to download and use science data from NASA and other data sources. Significantly, pysat enables the creation of science data analysis packages that work equally well on any data set, making it easy for scientists and members of the public to verify that published results are valid. Pysat’s potential for broad community impact led to a cover article in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Space Physics, in June 2018. Pysat’s article was in the top ten percent most downloaded in the year following publication. Pysat is open source, freely available, and a NumFOCUS affiliated project.