NASA Watch Turns 18 (seriously)
Keith’s note: NASAWatch turns 18 on 1 Apr 2014. It started as “NASA RIFWatch” on 1 Apr 1996 and was first hosted on a Mac Classic II on an ISDN line. Here a few things from those early days that are still online:
– Rogue Webmasters, Government Executive, 1 Oct 1996
“A committee of headquarters employees nominated Cowing for an agency award for running the RIF Watch site. But NASA Associate Administrator for Headquarters Operations Michael Christensen, rejected the idea. “The tone of the page is unacceptable,” says Christensen. “None of us dispute his right to run the Web site. My own personal decision was that it would be inappropriate to honor him for it.”
– NASA’s Most Important Asset, Gerry Griffin, 31 December 1996
– Dan Goldin Comments to the Space Science Advisory Committee (SSAC) Meeting, 6/17/96
– Changes in Thinking At NASA November 29, 1996, PBS News Hour
Just to show you how things have changed, this photo should shock a few of you … (well worth a click) – and no, it is not an April Fool’s joke. Today, some up and coming bloggers and Twitterati throw snark at me just like I threw it at Dan Goldin back in the day. Life is funny like that.
And those of you who have followed my ‘other’ exploits will know that I have had a certain interest in doing websites from distant and extreme locations (Devon Island, Everest Base Camp, etc.). This website (still online), “The McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Research Project – Life in Extreme Environments; An Antarctic Field Journal“, done with my friend Dale Andersen, was one of the very earliest websites actually updated from Antarctica.
I need to get some younger friends…mine are getting old!
Congrats, Keith, on this important work. May 108 more years follow.
Congratulations! Good work. Keep it up.
I think its interesting if you read Goldin’s testimony that much of what he discussed in 1996 would be relevant today. He talks about large companies getting larger, lack of flexibility/innovation, he talks about the sandboxes, everything that is discussed here on a regular basis. Granted, Goldin was an “interesting” personality and I am sure many would hate to see his return, but there is a need for some restructure, and more importantly some leadership to get NASA on a sustainable course
Happy 18th, I would offer a libation, but I think you have a few years to go before you can legally partake of those beverages :))
Love the picture with Dan! Ah, reading RIF Watch in my old cramped office in 2338 Rayburn on a Windows NT machine while I did my work on a used Powerbook 180 that I dug out of the House of Reps surplus equipment storage. In 1997 I went over to the Wintel darkside forever…
Hahaha, as the one who took the picture of Keith and Dan and as one who has read RIF/NASAwatch since the beginning, it was extremely hard not to bust out laughing at the cosmic irony involved.
One thing I remember from the early days is that NASA absolutely hated that Ketih had the daily ISS status reports from Jesco Von Puttinkamer. I heard that they went to extreme measures to try and find out where he got them. I can now reveal that I was providing them to him while at the University of Alabama in Huntsville from sources buried deep in the system at MSFC. There were memos sent out at NASA trying to find out how he was getting them and to plead with people to stop providing them.
More than any other news source, Keith has helped to improve NASA in so many ways and deep down he is the biggest NASA fan out there. It is OUR agency and Keith has never let them forget that.
Congratulations Keith! The longevity itself is impressive, but combiend with the impeccable quality, it’s simply stunning. NASAWatch is easily the most thoughtful, informative and important website for space news and policy analysis. It simply has no peer. Even it’s discussion threads are pretty great (a rare accomplishment itself). Thank you for creating one of the best sites on the internet, and one of my favorite daily destinations. To many more years of simply the best space-journalism!
For sure on the discussions-folks here are courteous, responsive, and willing to teach those of us not in the industry a thing or two.
I’ve always felt welcome here and grateful for walking among some very tall people.
Congrats Keith, so the big 2 0 is fast approaching … what are your plans … sending all your readers to a tropical island and a week of celebration?
For one thing NASAWatch needs to move out of the house and go get a job 😉
Actually for the 20th anniversary all of the readers should subsidize a flight on Virgin Galactic for Keith, Dennis and Marc
NASAWatch offers a very beneficial service. I feel like the NASA management pays a fair amount of attention to NW nd that there is no other way to honestly communicate with them. If they find out who you are you get criticized, blacklisted and your career will be destroyed.
Regardless of who Gerry Griffin was referring to, what he said is even more true today; the management really appears to be incapable of leadership. Mostly they are a bunch of survivors. By making no waves, and saying and doing little they rose up in the ranks until now they are the managers, but they have been bred to say and do little.
I’m just an average Joe that as a kid wanted to live in space or on another planet. Well that never happened. I remember when I first started reading NASA Watch, the posts seemed to be in another language. Here I could talk to people that had actually worked for NASA!!! I could ask a question about space, rockets or space policy and get MY question answered!!!! That is magic!!! As a kid I dreamed, as an an adult I can dream again with a little understanding.
Thanks Keith for creating NASA Watch and thanks to the rest of you that have been kind enough to share/teach your thoughts.
George Worthington
NASA Watch has kept the DREAM alive for me!
Hah! Congratulation! Now, in celebration, you shall now be kicked out of the house!
I didn’t have the opportunity to read NW in its early age like most of you. I learned of this site from the back of a wish fulfillment book by Richard Hoagland four years ago, and since then, has been glued to it. It is better than the game sites that everyone at my age seems to be on, being informative and actually productive. I remember the time when NW was blocked at my school. 🙂 Time really flies.
So, thanks Mr. Cowing, for providing four years of depressant/anti-depressant/fun/knowledge/update on my favorite group of humans! Keep up the good work!
Congrats on the 18 years Keith! It sure is a great site for all things NASA and space.
What is that tone exactly? Reality, hard questions, a message other than it’s all for kids or education, with NASA the message is the only business who can participate are huge corporations with deep pockets and it only changes when it’s related to grants for education and children. I’m absolutely sick of the NASA tone, it’s either NASA for babies or bureaucrats, rarely ever is it a tone like a worlds fair that is driven to innovate commerce, to make people or the public, (those who work for a living.) more prosperous. Even the technology transfer site use to be easy to read through, and they’ve managed to over complicate that to a maddening level, sure great search functionality, but what a terrible interface. I swear at NASA there’s an ethos “we bring crappy interfaces to you” stand in mission control for a couple hours and you’ll see what I mean. Even today it looks like something I coded in unix back in 96′.
Happy Birthday NASA watch and keep calling it as it is!
NW provides opportunity for us enthusiasts to vent, read some very enlightening view points, find interesting links, and recommending books to read. Thanks for providing this.