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Keith’s note: You may have noticed that I am doing a global critique of NASA’s education and public outreach activities. The prime public face that NASA outs forth – the way it explains itself to the public – are its websites and social media. NASA lives to brag about the sheer size of what they do online – which is easily the most diverse and pervasive of any American government […]

Well I just sit here in my basement and point out these obvious flaws and easy fixes month after month and yet no one at @NASA even bothers to fix them. In the real world this upgrade would have been done last year. — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) September 4, 2020 Keith’s note: A year and a half ago Jim Bridenstine directed NASA to fix its online services. he told the […]

NASA JSC PAO Internal Memo: Space Station Live Placed on Hiatus “However, in order to have the time to ensure that our products align to our ERO BHAG and align with the desires of our partners, we can’t just keep piling on additional work. To that end, after extensive discussions, we’re placing Space Station Live on hiatus at the end of the week. And, we’re working with the ISS Program […]

Mars Rover Curiosity’s Team to Receive Space Foundation Award “JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl , http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.” Keith’s note: Why does NASA spend money to maintain three different MSL websites – websites that do not even link to one another? I can (sort of) understand if there […]

Protest slows NASA open source project, FCW “The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s plans to transition to a content management system with open source architecture are on hold for a little while. The agency awarded a $40 million blanket purchase agreement in mid-December to Rockville, Md.-based InfoZen to replace the agency’s existing CMS – operated for several years by eTouch Federal Systems LLC – with open source architecture to run […]

Welcome to the NASA.gov Forum “We’re starting on the next go-round of what NASA.gov looks like and want to know what you think. The digital universe has changed radically since we overhauled www.NASA.gov in 2007. Everyone’s use of social media and smartphones has exploded. Visits to NASA’s web sites dropped for a couple of years, then set records in 2011 and this year. How are you making sense of all […]

Keith’s note: How’s this for confusion – Google “NASA Comercial Crew” and these results show up as the top selections. Which one is the main page for people to go to for commercial crew information? – Commercial Crew Program (CCP) at http://commercialcrew.nasa.gov/ – Commercial Crew and Cargo at http://www.nasa.gov/offices/c3po/home/ – Commercial Crew Program Updates at http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html Despite claims that they are working the issue, HEOMD’s website are just as confused, […]

Keith’s note: One night in January I got frustrated trying to find something on NASA’s Human Spaceflight website(s). So, I decided to map them. As you can see from this chart (enlarge), NASA’s HSF web presence – like much of NASA’s sprawling cyber infrastructure – is an unorganized mess. Yet despite this convoluted web structure, people often manage to find things simply because a lot of what NASA does is […]

Fifty-Seven Student Rocket Teams to Take NASA Launch Challenge “For a complete competitor list and more information about the challenge, visit: http://education.msfc.nasa.gov/sli and http://education.msfc.nasa.gov/usli.” Keith’s note: Simple, yes? Not when NASA’s multiple webmasters get into the act. If you go to http://education.msfc.nasa.gov/sli you are redirected to another URL (link) that blinks too fast to copy down and then quickly redirects you again, this time to this link http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/descriptions/Student_Launch_Initiative.html. Why have […]