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Tag: NASA

  • Hurricane Irene: The View From Space

    It’s always interesting how natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes that bring such devastation and destruction can also have a type of amazing, terrible beauty. And there’s nothing like a view from space to make us all aware of the true size of natural phenomena.

    The International Space Station has captured some footage of Hurricane Irene that is simply stunning. The footage, taken Wednesday afternoon, shows the hurricane as it moved over the Bahamas.

    The video, pulled from the NASA website, has this description:

    From 230 miles above the Earth, cameras on the International Space Station captured new views of powerful Hurricane Irene as it churned over the Bahamas at 3:10 p.m. EDT on August 24, 2011. Irene is moving to the northwest as a Category 3 hurricane, packing winds of 120 miles an hour. Irene is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 storm as it heads toward the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the Eastern Seaboard and the middle Atlantic and New England states.

    Check it out –

    The video comments present the strange dichotomy of fear and awe that we feel from something like this. One commenter says how “amazing and humbling” the video is while another says “awesome video of nature’s fury; let’s all hope for minimal damage and casualties.

    NASA has been tweeting about the hurricane as it moves toward the east coast of the U.S.

    @NASA
    NASA    Big (600-miles wide) bad (120 mph) Hurricane Irene yesterday afternoon, seen by NASA’s Aqua satellite. http://t.co/35tB2d5 1 day ago via CoTweet · powered by @socialditto

    @NASA
    NASA    ‘Fuel’ for Hurricane Irene: warm Atlantic Ocean waters. Something else our Aqua satellite keeps an eye on. http://t.co/IBmX7Cz 20 hours ago via CoTweet · powered by @socialditto

    @NASA
    NASA    All of Hurricane Irene captured in this image from our Terra satellite, Thursday ~noon ET. http://t.co/2pPUExL #hurricaneirene 44 minutes ago via CoTweet · powered by @socialditto

    Nature is both fascinating and dangerous. FEMA suggests that you go to ready.gov for tips on how to prepare if you are in the storm’s path. The Red Cross has also come up with a list (pdf) of supplies you need to prepare for the storm.

    [The lead image is a view of the hurricane taken yesterday by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on the Terra satellite]

  • Hurricane Irene: She Makes Great Internet Content

    Hurricane Irene is not only growing in size as a storm–potential Category 4 by the time it hits the United States, something that’s sure to make the countries that have already dealt with Irene feel better–she’s also a big hit for people in the U.S. who like to talk about popular items on Twitter.

    One can only imagine what it will be like if Irene is a Cat 4 when she hits the east coast of the United States. The lead image–thanks, NASA–is an indicator of her size as of yesterday. If she’s as severe as some are speculating, the Twitter output could rival the Women’s World Cup, provided Irene doesn’t crush the communications infrastructure on the eastern seaboard.

    If nothing else, such output will allow for some pretty amazing videos from Twitter once the dust settles, or, in Irene’s case, the water resides.

    This is not to belittle the threat towards more than just human life such a potentially powerful storm represents, either. This is strictly from an Internet use angle, specifically Twitter, which has proved quite valuable during times of natural disasters. While the U.S. Twitter crowd awaits her arrival, they are certainly willing to talk about it. The results are about what you’d imagine:

    @_Snape_
    Professor Snape    Hurricane Irene, Will and Jada splitting, and now a 5.8 earthquake in DC. Somebody call the Aurors, something wicked is in the US. 1 hour ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Retweeted over 100 times, too.

    @CBSNews
    CBS News    Hurricane Irene could hit US as a monster, affecting entire Eastern Seaboard; Now Cat 2, could build to Category 4 http://t.co/ok4jQHl 56 minutes ago via Seesmic twhirl · powered by @socialditto

    Some are excited, however:

    @msblueeyes1122
    Staci LeAnn Pierce    so .. me and @Marie_Carroll are going roadtrippin’ to NC thursday & apparently Hurricane Irene is on her way… hurricane party? ithinkso 3 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @SamBlackmer
    Samantha Blackmer    Already hoping for no school next week because of hurricane Irene. 6 minutes ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto

    And then there’s this:

    @DC_Earthquake
    DC Earthquake    Anyone know if Hurricane Irene is single? 31 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    And no, that DC Earthquake account isn’t a trick, either. It was started about an hour ago and already has over 500 followers. You have to love the Internet.

    Aside from the Twitter reaction, YouTube has some awesome videos as well, and these have a little bit more meat on them than the average Twitter post:


    The NASA/NOAA (National Hurricane Center) GOES Project has some incredible content as well, including high-resolution images and movies of both the east and west coast, although, with all the Irene activity, the east coast is where all the action is.

    As fearsome as these natural events are, they are still amazing to look at, especially from the safe distance an Internet connection provides.

  • Tracking Hurricane Irene On Twitter

    Tracking Hurricane Irene On Twitter

    That Atlantic ocean side of the United States is in the middle of its hurricane season–June 1st through November 30th–and there’s a storm of interest heading towards the Floridan coast called Hurricane Irene. While she hasn’t hit landfall in the United States, Irene has been picking up strength, and has, in fact, already struck Puerto Rico as she heads towards the eastern seaboard.

    While there are an awful lot of ways to follow the progress of Hurricane Irene–the National Hurricane Center, NASA–Twitter has proven to be quite reliable when it comes to potentially disastrous natural phenomenon, and with Hurricane Irene, it’s no different. Currently, the king tweet of the Irene trend–at least in regards to being the top promoted tweet–belongs to the MyWeather.com feed, with the following:

    @MyWeather
    MyWeather.com    Hurricane Irene has been re-assessed & is expected to become a Major Hurricane by 8am Thurs. Winds over 110mph expected http://t.co/1lDtLG0 26 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    And thus, we see the effectiveness of the promoted tweets advertising campaign. It’s great for getting you to the top of various trends lists, and in this particular case, the information is indeed pertinent, if not self-serving. MyWeather REALLY wants us to see their Bing-powered hurricane tracker.

    @MyWeather
    MyWeather.com    Hurricane Irene could be the first hurricane to make landfall in the U.S since Ike in 2008. View Irene’s predicted path http://t.co/1lDtLG0 2 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Granted, that tweet got much more reception than the first one that was embedded. Meanwhile, the latest promoted tweet has only one retweet, even thought it has more relevant information than the “check out our map” tweet, but digression is the best policy here.

    As for Puerto Rico, the damage was done:

    @tedleew
    ted whitford    More than 800,000 without power as Hurricane Irene slams Puerto Rico | Breaking News | Wire Update News| News Wires ( http://t.co/yAPKXhI ) 45 minutes ago via twitthat · powered by @socialditto

    But things seems to be getting back to some level of normalcy now that Irene has moved on:

    @weatherchannel
    The Weather Channel    Conditions gradually improving over Puerto Rico. Hurricane conditions are possible over the north shore of the DR. http://t.co/e2ybAWK 1 hour ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    While Florida is a primary concern of many on Twitter:

    @Willo_Keays
    Jaci Willoughby    Dear @OfficialSanta – all I want for Un-Christmas this week is for Hurricane Irene to keep moving more East, and not hit FL. TYVM. 6 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @FAMUS_QUEENB
    Bianca W.    In miami!? RT @TGI_Friday: Hurricane Irene is suppose to make landfall Thursday. Definitely not excited about that. 1 minute ago via UberSocial for BlackBerry · powered by @socialditto

    Perhaps the Bahamas and Cuba should be included as well, especially when you consider Irene’s path:

    Hurricane Irene Path

    While there may be a certain level of “only if it’s happening to me is it important” that goes on at Twitter, once you can separate the wheat from the chaff, Twitter once again proves its value. It will also do a good job–provided people are paying attention to the trends–of serving as an early warning system for those who may otherwise be unaware.

  • Video of The Last Atlantis Landing

    Video of The Last Atlantis Landing

    STS-135, otherwise known as the Atlantis Shuttle, made its final landing early Thursday morning around 6:00am. It was a successful mission that ended on a sad note, because it signified the end of the space shuttle era, one that lasted more than 30 years. With that in mind, it’s hard not to feel a sense of melancholy. Granted, we should be happy Atlantis made it back safely, but the landing also signifies a passing that will not soon be forgotten.

    Over at NASA’s YouTube page, they posted a 30-minute video of the Atlantis landing that’s about as comprehensive as you can ask for. The video is embedded at the top of this post, but there are others worth sharing as well. Before that, however, we should take a moment and acknowledge the significance of Atlantis and the space shuttle program as a whole. Over at NASA’s Space Shuttle site, they have quotes from the Atlantis crew, which helps frame the moment even more:

    “Although we got to take the ride,” said Commander Chris Ferguson on behalf of his crew, ” we sure hope that everybody who has ever worked on, or touched, or looked at, or envied or admired a space shuttle was able to take just a little part of the journey with us.”

    And:

    “They have come to be known as the ‘final four.’ They did an absolutely incredible job,” said [NASA Administrator Charles] Bolden. “They made us very proud.”

    The report also indicates a welcome home ceremony will be held on Friday, July 22 at Ellington Field. The ceremony will be open to the public.

    As our way of acknowledging the crew of Atlantis, and its last flight, as well as the end of the space shuttle era, here are a few more videos of the landing, just in case you can’t sit through the entire 30-minute video provided by NASA. It’s WebProNews’ way of saying thank you:


    If you need a reminder of the finality of the space shuttle program, take a look at NASA’s upcoming launch schedule, which includes 2012 launches as well. It’s a few satellites and another Mars rover. Let’s just hope NASA’s incredible intellectual resources aren’t being squandered while the US government continues to fight over money.

  • WATCH: Space Shuttle Atlantis’ Final Flight

    Earlier today, 11:26 A.M. EST Friday to be exact, space shuttle Atlantis launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center headed toward the International Space Station. Today’s launch signified the end of an era, as it was the final of Atlantis’ career.

    The shuttle is caring Commander Chris Ferguson and crewmates Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim on a 12-day mission. On their trek they’ll deliver “Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module filled with more than 8,000 pounds of supplies and spare parts to sustain space station operations after the shuttles are retired”, according to the NASA YouTube page.

    Are you saddened by the launch of Atlantis today? Let us know in the comments.

    Below I’ve included the top three tweets about Atlantis’ launch, as according to Twitter. Two of them feature some pretty amazing images.

    @NASA
    NASA    Shuttle Atlantis is “go” for launch. No technical issues and weather is “go” at KSC and at abort landing sites in the U.S. and overseas. 6 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @NASAKennedy
    NASA Kennedy / KSC    #STS135 Atlantis has left Earth for the final space shuttle mission, capping off an amazing 30-year program. http://twitpic.com/5n1yac 5 hours ago via Twitpic · powered by @socialditto

    @NASAKennedy
    NASA Kennedy / KSC    #STS135 Atlantis’ launch, seen from above through the window of a Shuttle Training Aircraft. http://twitpic.com/5n4peg 2 hours ago via Twitpic · powered by @socialditto

    I’ve included the image from the tweet above below. Enjoy.

    Atlantis as seen from the window of a shuttle training aircraft

  • Philly Inquirer Confuses Atlantis With Challenger on Twitter

    Earlier today space shuttle Atlantis launched into space, which marked the end to NASA’s 30-year space program. As with anything else, people flocked to social media to discuss the monumentos, yet sad, event.

    Mere moments after the countdown clock hit all zero’s, and Atlantis was on it’s way, the Philadelphia Inquirer made a head scratching mistake. They confused Atlantis with a pervious shuttle… the Challenger. The doomed shuttle that exploded on January 28, 1986, which was less than two minutes into its flight.

    @PhillyInquirer
    PhillyInquirer    The Challenger has lifted off for the last mission by an U.S. space shuttle 3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    The Inquirer was quick to delete the tweet, updating their status with the following message:

    @PhillyInquirer
    PhillyInquirer    Correction: Atlantis has lifted off for last mission by American space shuttle. 3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Before they could even get the tweet deleted… Twitter users had already seen it. As I’m sure you can imagine, some were astounded at the typo:

    @MarkScheuern
    Mark Scheuern    And they wonder why newspapers are dying. RT @PhillyInquirer: The Challenger has lifted off for the last mission by an U.S. space shuttle 3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @TheAkronHammer
    Adam Reisinger    I believe this is what kids today call a “FAIL” RT @PhillyInquirer The Challenger has lifted off for the last mission by a US space shuttle. 3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @palvar
    Terry Nicol    @PhillyInquirer Pretty tasteless joke. 58 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @gplefka
    Greg Plefka    WOW…just wow…RT @PhillyInquirer: The Challenger has lifted off for the last mission by an U.S. space shuttle 2 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @BrianKal
    BMK    Lots of media #fail today. AP too RT @PhillyInquirer: The Challenger has lifted off for the last mission by an U.S. space shuttle 3 hours ago via UberSocial for BlackBerry · powered by @socialditto

    You can read more Twitter reaction here.

    To stay up-to-date on all things Atlantis be sure to check out NASA’s site, you can even read tweets from the astronauts

  • Endeavour Shuttle Launch Pic Brings Twitter Fame to One Woman

    The argument for what constitutes a journalist is becoming more heated as technology and social media are turning everyone into an amateur news-maker. We recently heard the amazing story of the Pakistani man who live tweeted the Osama bin Laden raid. Today, we get another example of how one tweet can turn a normal person into a someone who documents an historic event.

    Today, Twitter fame was bestowed upon Stefanie Gordon (@stefmara) as the 33 year old from Hoboken tweeted a pic of the Space Shuttle Endeavour from her plane window. The pic, showing the shuttle piercing through the cloud layer truly is a remarkable photo. Check it out here.

    Gordon has been incredibly active on Twitter today, and her timeline tells a story of how her twitpic has rocketed her into temporary fame (har-har). Gordon has been contacted by national news outlets and has gained over 1,000 followers in just a few hours.

    Traveling from LaGuardia to West Palm Beach, Gordon was informed she may see the launch.
    From CBS news:

    “The captain made an announcement that we would probably see it. I really couldn’t hear what he was saying, and then all of a sudden people started getting up and going over to the windows.”

    Here’s what’s happened today, a story told on Twitter:

    @Stefmara
    Stefanie Gordon    Here’s another Photo of the shuttle from my plane. http://twitpic.com/4yg6hs 7 hours ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto

    @Stefmara
    Stefanie Gordon    OMG!!! @NASA retweeted my photo!’n 6 hours ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto

    @Stefmara
    Stefanie Gordon    @StadiumInsider CBS & NBC have already contacted me! 5 hours ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto

    @Stefmara
    Stefanie Gordon    THANK YOU!! RT @HuffPostTravel: @Stefmara We LOVE your video! http://aol.it/kqD3V9 4 hours ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto

    @Stefmara
    Stefanie Gordon    Thank you my friend! *bows* RT @amandarykoff: @Stefmara #worldfamousiphonephotographer is one of my all-time favorite hashtags. Well done. 1 hour ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto

    @Stefmara
    Stefanie Gordon    I’ve gained just about 1,000 new followers today. Wow. I hope you all like sports! 1 hour ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto

  • NASA Endeavour Shuttle Launch To Be Followed By YouTube / Google Moderator Interview with Crew

    NASA Endeavour Shuttle Launch To Be Followed By YouTube / Google Moderator Interview with Crew

    The space shuttle Endeavour launched today, beginning a 16-day mission that will see it heading to the International Space Station. In attendance was U.S. Reprsentative Gabrielle Giffords, whose husband Mark Kelly is commanding the mission.

    For the event, Google partnered with NASA and PBS to set up a YouTube/Google Moderator-based interview with the crew, to be emceed by Miles O’Brien in 3 days, as discussed in the video above.

    The questions are already pouring in. If you’re unfamiliar with how Google Moderator works, you can submit questions and they will get either voted up or down by other users, and typically, the questions that rise to the top will be the ones asked.

    @google
    A Googler    Time to submit your questions for the crew of the Endeavour space shuttle on its final mission http://goo.gl/2mjb (via @youtube) 1 hour ago via Tap11 · powered by @socialditto

    There are already plenty of questions pouring. So far, as of the time of this writing, 1,906 people have submitted 1,595 questions and cast 11,788 votes.

    Google has also taken the opportunity to express its love for space exploration in other ways. “To mark the occasion, we put together this video to celebrate our love for space, told with the help of products we pour our hearts into every day,” explains Google’s Tiffany Montague, going by the title Intergalactic Federation King Almighty and Commander of the Universe. “You’ll see everything from historical sky maps featured in Google Earth, to 3D buildings at Kennedy Space Center, and our salute to both the astounding achievement of the Apollo era and the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a new space race of entrepreneurial leadership.”

    She also expresses the company’s aspirations to continue moving beyond Earth in its quest for data dominance. “At Google, we’re never afraid to think big, and our mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful doesn’t stop at our exosphere,” she says. “The universe is full of information, and as we push the boundaries of exploration, our job will be to organize it and make it searchable.”

    Perhaps a better mission statement for Google would be to “organize the Universe’s data and make it worldly accessible”.

    Another side note: Google’s main campus is less than a mile away from the NASA Ames Research Center.

    The Endeavour’s launch lasted a reported 12 seconds.

  • NASA Tweetup Registration Opens Today

    NASA Tweetup Registration Opens Today

    Space nerds alert!

    NASA’s latest Tweetup contest is set to begin today at 3pm EST.  It will run for 24 hours, closing Wednesday at 3pm.

    NASA’s integration with the social media service began in 2009, when the first Tweetup allowed winners to visit the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  Later that year, NASA headquarters held its first Tweetup.  Since then, Kennedy Space Center and Johnson Space Center have also hosted Tweetup winners for shuttle launches and the World Science Festival.

    @jpltweetup
    jpltweetup    Registration for the June 6 #NASATweetup hosted by @NASAJPL opens Tuesday, April 26 at noon PT (3pm ET) : http://bit.ly/eIKWhO 4 days ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    For this latest Tweetup, NASA will choose 120 Twitter followers at random to visit the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Monday, June 6th.  From NASA:

    With four space missions launching this year and an asteroid belt encounter nearly underway, 2011 will be one of the busiest ever in planetary exploration. Tweetup participants will interact with JPL scientists and engineers about these upcoming missions: Aquarius, to study ocean salinity; Grail, to study the moon’s gravity field; Juno to Jupiter; and the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity rover. Participants also will learn about the Dawn mission and its upcoming encounter with the asteroid Vesta.

    The Tweetup will include a tour of JPL, robotics demonstrations and a last chance to see the Curiosity rover before it ships to Florida to prepare for a November launch. Tour stops will include the Spacecraft Assembly Facility where Curiosity is under construction, the mission control center of NASA’s Deep Space Network, and JPL’s new Earth Science Visitor Center.

    Tweetup participants also will mingle with fellow attendees and the staff behind the tweets on @NASA and @NASAJPL, @MarsRovers, @AsteroidWatch and more.

    The official Twitter account for this Tweetup is @JPLTweetup, but updates on registration and information can be found on the main NASA account.  The event is using #NASATweetup.

    After registrations are complete, winners will receive email notifications no later than May 4th.

    The last Tweetup registered on March 15th, and 150 lucky space nerds were selected to attend Friday’s final launch of Endeavor in Cape Canaveral, FL.

  • OpenStack Open Source Cloud Project Sees Rapid Growth

    Rackspace Hosting just announced the six-month anniversary of OpenStack, the open source cloud project started by Rackspace and NASA, and that it has already grown to include 40 companies working on fighting against the emergence of proprietary cloud stacks and creating a standard way to deploy applications and connect clouds. 

    Initially, Rackspace donated the code that powers its own Cloud Files and Cloud Servers products to the project, while NASA contributed its Nebula Cloud Platform. 

    OpenStack from RackSpace and NASA"From day-one Rackspace has believed industry standards emerge from widely adopted, open platforms," said Lew Moorman, president, cloud and chief strategy officer at Rackspace Hosting. "Over the past six months we have seen the OpenStack community grow, showing we are not alone in this fight. As one of the founding members we couldn’t be more excited about OpenStack’s success. We plan to continue to deploy OpenStack at Rackspace as the center of our cloud hosting options."

    OpenStack, a collection of open source technologies, is currently developing two interrelated projects: OpenStack Compute and OpenStack Object Storage. As Rackspace explains:

    OpenStack Compute is software to provision and manage large groups of virtual private servers, and OpenStack Object Storage is software for creating redundant, scalable object storage using clusters of commodity servers to store terabytes or even petabytes of data. The first ‘Austin’ code release was October 2010, and second ‘Bexar’ release is expected to be available for download February 3, 2011.

    Among those participating in OpenStack, besides founding members Rackspace and NASA, are: Citrix, Dell, AMD, Cloud.com, Intel, and many others. You can see the full roster here.

    "OpenStack has seen an incredibly fast amount of interest in the cloud community, drawing in many of the key and more interesting players, even people who ostensibly would compete with OpenStack,"  said Michael Cote, analyst at developer-focused industry analyst firm RedMonk.  "This new community has been doing a good job of building the stack, and more importantly, the ecosystem needed for an open source cloud computing platform."

    Rackspace says it will continue to implement OpenStack throughout its own portfolio, as the project matures.

  • NASA And The White House Tops In Social Media

    NASA and the White House lead other public sector organizations when it comes to social media and online strategy, according to a new report from The George Washington University School of Business (GWSB) and digital think tank.

    Authored by the dean of GWSB, Doug Guthrie, NYU professor Scott Galloway and team from L2, the report looked at the effectiveness of an organization’s site, digital marketing, social media and mobile platforms.

    Social-Media-Rankings

    “Social media and other online strategies are critical tools that public sector organizations use to encourage transparency, engage constituents and serve the public in an era of cost cutting,” said Dean Guthrie.

    “Our leaders and public sector organizations need to embrace these powerful new tools.”

    Highlights from the report include:

    *Social media is increasingly important to driving traffic to organization sites: 69 percent of organizations count Facebook among the top eight sources of referral traffic. Two organizations, People for the American Way and the American Farm Bureau Federation, receive more traffic from Facebook than any other source including Google.

    *More than 80 percent of organizations are present on at least one social media platform, 63 percent host a blog and one in five have some presence on mobile platforms.

    *There is substantial low hanging fruit around basic digital marketing tactics. Only 18 percent of organizations are purchasing search terms, only 15 percent have mobile sites and nearly one in five organizations still do not allow e-mail opt-in.

    “The advent of the social web has fundamentally changed our nation’s public sector organizations,” said Professor Galloway.

    “We’re likely to see a transfer in power and influence from organizations that are digitally inept to those who are digitally deft.”

     

  • NASA Holding Tweetup For Space Shuttle Launch

    NASA said today it will give 50 of its Twitter followers the chance for a closer look at the next space shuttle mission during a Tweetup Tuesday, November, 9, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center. Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station on Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. EDT.

    NASA-Space-Shuttle Those who take part in the Tweetup will tour the center; view mission control and astronauts’ training facilities; and speak with managers, flight directors, trainers and astronauts. The participants also will meet the team behind the tweets on @NASA and @NASA_Johnson.

    "The Tweetup attendees will get to visit the home of mission control during one of the last two scheduled shuttle flights," said Stephanie Schierholz, social media manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

    "In addition, they will get to share their experience of the excitement of human spaceflight with their followers around the world."

    Registration opens at 10 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Oct. 26, and closes at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 28. NASA will select participants randomly from those who register online.

  • Space: No Longer the Final Frontier for Foursquare

    It seems that Space is no longer the final frontier when talking about Foursquare check-ins. Douglas Wheelock, a NASA astronaut, has checked into the International Space Station using the location-based app. For this simple feat, Wheelock was "awarded" the very first NASA Explorer Badge. Bow before it Foursquare geeks.

    Foursquare NASA Explorer Badge

    Foursquare users: How bad do you want the NASA Explorer Badge? Let us know.

    I just unlocked the "NASA Explorer" badge on @foursquare! http://4sq.com/dseNyIless than a minute ago via foursquareDouglas H. Wheelock
    Astro_Wheels

    The check-in officially kicks off a partnership between NASA and Foursquare, NASA even has aFoursquare page offering venues where you can unlock the new NASA Explorer Badge. Users will get tips about the venues upon check-in with their smartphone or mobile device.

    Wheelock, @Astro_wheels as he’s known on Twitter, is the Commander of ISS Expedition 25, which is a team of cosmonauts and astronauts from both Russia and the United States. You can read his full bio here.

    It should be noted that earlier this year NASA coordinated the first tweet from outer space What will they have in store for us next? Let us know what you think.

  • NASA And Gowalla Partner On Virtual Search For Moon Rocks

    NASA has partnered with Gowalla to create new ways for people to learn more about space exploration and the agency in general.

    The partnership populates Gowalla with NASA-related information and four virtual items — moon rocks, a NASA patch, a spacesuit and a space shuttle — that can be found at agency-related venues.

    “NASA’s partnership with Gowalla is a creative way for us to reach out and share information about what the nation’s space agency is doing," said Bob Jacobs, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

    NASA-Gowalla

    Gowalla users who virtually "check-in" at NASA-related venues and places of discovery via their smart phone have a chance to find the four agency virtual items which can be traded for other items, dropped in locations or kept in their vault.

    Anyone with a Gowalla account who collects three of the four items will receive a special pin in their Gowalla Passport. In addition, the first 100 people to collect three items will win the special edition NASA+Gowalla Map: Search for the Moon Rocks by JESS3, a creative agency that specializes in data visualization.

    The partnership enables a NASA account and an account for astronaut Mike Massimino linked to the agency’s primary Twitter account, @NASA, and Massimino’s Twitter account, @Astro_Mike. NASA and Massimino also will drop virtual items for users to find and collect throughout the nation.

     

  • NASA Launches App HD For iPad

    NASA Launches App HD For iPad

    NASA has introduced a new free mobile application for the iPad called NASA App HD.

    NASA App HD features live streaming video from NASA Television, an interactive map with links to all of its centers, quick links to feature stories and launch schedules, a scrolling “alerts banner,” and a NASA Featured” link.

    NASA-iPad-App

    The app’s landing page features the solar system, where users can learn more about it, the universe and NASA missions. The app also allows users to view and search updated, higher resolution NASA Image of the Day and Astronomy Picture of the Day collections and agency videos on demand.

    “Our goal with the first NASA App was to deliver current mission information, images, videos and news updates in the best possible way for the iPhone and iPod touch," said Jerry Colen, NASA App project manager at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

    "Now we’ve enhanced and expanded the application to include even more content and really take advantage of the iPad’s larger screen."
     

     

  • NASA To Hold Tweetup For Next Shuttle Launch

    NASA said today it will give 150 of its Twitter followers an inside look at its space program and the chance to view a space shuttle launch in person.

    Stephanie-Schierholz The third shuttle launch Tweetup, scheduled for October 31 through November 1, will take place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

    "With only two scheduled shuttle flights remaining, we want new audiences to experience the excitement of a launch," said Stephanie Schierholz, social media manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

    "Our guests at the Tweetup then can share the experience with their followers around the world."

    Attendees will tour the center, view the shuttle launch and speak with NASA managers, astronauts, shuttle technicians and engineers. NASA will randomly select 150 participants from online registrations. Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to lift off from Kennedy on its mission to the International Space Station at 4:40 p.m. EDT on November 1.

    Registration opens at noon on Tuesday, August 24, and closes at noon on Wednesday, August 25.

     

  • Court Ruling Raises Fair Use Questions Around DRM

    Elecronista reports that a new court ruling could set a legal precedent to allow the bypassing of DRM for fair use purposes. "The decision could impact the media industry as it may allow breaking DRM for music, movies and other formats as long as the material isn’t pirated," says Electronista.

    Engagdet has a look at a "mystery HTC Windows Phone 7 device". "A candybar slate from HTC with a 3.7-inch SLCD and 1GHz Snapdragon processor — sounds about right for the Desire, but this little puppy is actually running Windows Phone 7 (presumably a developer build, given the apps catalog)," the publication reports. "According to our tipster, the three buttons under the screen are touch-sensitive à la Nexus One, the camera boasts 8 megapixels of memory retention, and the "hardware is ready." It apparently lacks HTC Sense.

    According to Bloomberg, AOL is looking for an executive to lead its music business, with the help of recruiting firm Spencer Stuart.

    Apple announced that the iPhone 4 will be made available in 17 more countries starting Friday. This news comes while LG has suggested iPad international expansion could be temporarily hampered.

    Rackspace and NASA have teamed up on an open source cloud project called OpenStack.

  • Rackspace Teams Up with NASA on Open Source Cloud Project

    Rackspace and NASA are collaborating on an open source cloud platform aimed at "fostering the emergence of standards and cloud interoperability." The platform is called OpenStack.

    Rackspace is donating the code that powers its Cloud Files and Cloud Servers products, and NASA is contributing its Nebula Cloud Platform. From there, the two will actively collaborate on joint technology development.

    OpenStack from RackSpace and NASA "Modern scientific computation requires ever increasing storage and processing power delivered on-demand" said Chris Kemp, NASA’s Chief Technology Officer for IT. "To serve this demand, we built Nebula, an infrastructure cloud platform designed to meet the needs of our scientific and engineering community. NASA and Rackspace are uniquely positioned to drive this initiative based on our experience in building large scale cloud platforms and our desire to embrace open source"

    "We are founding the OpenStack initiative to help drive industry standards, prevent vendor lock-in and generally increase the velocity of innovation in cloud technologies" said Lew Moorman, president, Cloud and CSO at Rackspace. "We are proud to have NASA’s support in this effort. Its Nebula Cloud Platform is a tremendous boost to the OpenStack community. We expect ongoing collaboration with NASA and the rest of the community to drive more-rapid cloud adoption and innovation, in the private and public spheres"

    Rackspace says that using the components of the OpenStack initiative, organizations will be able to turn physical hardware into scalable and extensible cloud environments using the same code that is currently in production, serving tens of thousands of customers and large government projects.

  • Bing Takes Users to Mars

    Microsoft has added Mars imagery to Bing Maps and to its WorldWide Telescope project. The imagery comes straight from NASA itself.

    "Microsoft Research and NASA are providing an entirely new experience to users of the WorldWide Telescope, which will allow visitors to interact with and explore our solar system like never before," says Bing’s Chris Pendleton. "Viewers can now take exclusive interactive tours of the Red Planet, hear directly from NASA scientists, and view and explore the most complete, highest-resolution coverage of Mars available."

    Bing Mars Imagery

    "The beauty of this is that the Bing WorldWide Telescope Map App has been updated with the new imagery, as well," adds Pendleton. "This means users of Bing Maps can immediately enjoy the new imagery of the Red Planet from within their browser via our Silverlight site."

    The Worldwide Telescope Mars experience can be downloaded here. On the Bing Maps Silverlight site, users can simply click the "Map Apps" button, select "WorldWide Telescope", and select "Mars" from the Collections list.

  • NASA Invites Its Twitter Followers To Tweetup

    NASA is inviting its Twitter followers to a special Tweetup with astronaut T.J. Creamer at 3 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 29.

    The event will take place in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, Washington.

    While in space, Creamer set up the International Space Station’s live Internet connection. He posted updates about the mission to his Twitter account and sent the first live tweet from the orbiting outpost.

    NASA-Live-Tweets

    This NASA Tweetup is a chance to meet and speak with Creamer, the people behind NASA’s Twitter account, and other space-exploration-minded participants.

    Registration for the event is open from now until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 13. NASA randomly will select 100 participants from web registrants. Additional applicants will be placed on a waiting list.

    Creamer spent 161 days living aboard the station as part of the Expedition 22 and 23 crews. He launched aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in December 2009 and returned to Earth June 2, 2010.
     

     

  • NASA Launches Free Online Moon Game

    NASA Launches Free Online Moon Game

    NASA has released a new free online video game called Moonbase Alpha.

    Moonbase Alpha has single and multiplayer options that allow users to play the role of an exploration team member in a futuristic 3-D lunar settlement.  Players must work to repair systems and oxygen flow after a meteor strike damages a solar array and life support equipment.  Resoruces include an interactive command center, a lunar rover, mobile robotic repair units and an equipment shed.

     

     

    It is the first game in NASA’s Learning Technologies project. The project supports the delivery of NASA content through interactive technologies such as virtual worlds, games and software applications to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, education.

    Moonbase Alpha is a precursor to a planned NASA-based massively, multiplayer online game project. The project is being designed to have content and missions that require players to gain and demonstrate STEM knowledge to succeed.

    NASA released the game on Valve’s Steam network. The agency will use the Steamworks suite of services for server browsing, leaderboards, and statistics.