This is not a NASA Website. You might learn something. It's YOUR space agency. Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU.
News

Great News at ARC – Now Will Someone Please Wake ARC PAO Up

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
December 14, 2006

Message from the ARC Center Director: Kick-off Event for Google-NASA Collaboration on Friday

“All members of the Ames community interested in the collaboration between Google and NASA are cordially invited to a kick-off event on Friday, Dec. 15, at 5:30 p.m. in the Exploration Center outside the main gate. A number of representatives from Google will be attending the event, which will feature a brief overview of the collaboration. Light food and beverages will be provided.”

Editor’s note: From what I have learned, this announcement will unveil a NASA/Google collaboration that is rather unique – indeed exciting. This agreement represents a significant advance for how the agency might collaborate with the private sector in the future – specificially as to how the agency takes its vast collection of data and imagery and makes it more easily available to the world. Among the details of this new cooperative project, Google will be contributing funding to support NASA employees – and not just at ARC – but at other NASA centers as well.

Alas, while ARC staff have been very creative in crafting this agreement, ARC PAO has dropped the ball once again. No one in the media seems to know that this is happening – tomorrow.

Editor’s update: While this announcement will still happen, NASA ARC PAO now says it has been delayed until a date that has been “mutually agreed upon by NASA and Google.”. ARC PAO”s Laura Lewis also chided me for posting an internal memo. I guess it did not occur to her that sending an email to several thousand people about a “kick off event” is tantamount to announcing it publicly since the memos get forwarded almost instantly. Indeed, that’s the point of such widely distributed emails in the first place – messages that carry no admonition about further dissemination.

And oh yes – I almost forgot – that big banner near the ARC HQ building – the one announcing the “Google party” on Friday. Not exactly subtle, eh?

Editor’s 15 Dec 4:30 pm EST update: NASA Ames Schedules Briefing to Discuss Google Agreement

“NASA Ames Research Center hosts a media briefing Monday [18 December 2006] to discuss a major announcement involving Google, Inc.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.