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NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Topic: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old (Read 42674 times)
Chris Bergin
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NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
«
on:
03/18/2015 11:50 am »
10 years ago today, our work-in-progress news site and a forum - with one section and one "welcome" thread - gained its first new member. 10 years on and we've got this monster of a site causing servers in downtown Dallas to drain the local power grid the second someone sneezes "SpaceX" on the forum.
So I was wondering how to mark this milestone.
I could throw our ever-increasing visitation numbers at you or wave my arms in the air claiming we're the bestest space site in the whole wide world (as most sites say about themselves), but no. I think it would be best marked by simply saying thank you.
This site's strength is its community, at all levels. Everyone who is part of this place joined this site at some point, just like that first member did. A large amount of you - far too many to mention - advanced your role in this community in various ways; from the running of the site, to writing for the site, to moderating the forum, to representing the site at events, to helping provide source content and supporting the site via L2 - and so on.
I think none of us will forget the crowdsourcing efforts as an example of this community's strength, especially the recovery of the Falcon 9 landing video that gained numerous direct thanks from Elon. That's where "community" works, because the ability to post a thread saying "SpaceX needs your help with this" and by the end of the day there's a bus load of video experts from around the world fixing what seemed like an impossible task, well that was amazing to see.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=34597.0
- nearly half a million reads on just that one thread now.
Everyone plays a part and it is hugely appreciated, more than I can express in a forum post. So thank you to all, to Mark, Jester and the entire team, through to our writers, led by Chris G, through to all our industry friends (I wish I could name drop!), through to our moderators, our L2 members without whom there would be no site, our partners, our regular members, the German aerospace student who joined up this morning and posted his first post, and even the guests who mash F5 during launches....
Thanks to all.
Here's to the next 10 years.
Chris.
PS Might be fun if you posted about when and why you visited here for the first time.
«
Last Edit: 03/18/2015 12:00 pm by Chris Bergin
»
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Frandolf
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
«
Reply #1 on:
03/18/2015 11:58 am »
Let's start the party:
I visited the page for the first time sometimes in 2008/2009 - due to a link in the english version of Wikipedia on the Space Shuttle. NSF was used as a reference.
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Chris Bergin
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Martin FL
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #2 on:
03/18/2015 12:05 pm »
Joined in late 2005! 10 years - wow! Lifetime L2 member and proud.
I was one of the migrators from the dying SDC that has since died completely. I don't know how I'd cope without this place now.
Really great to see how it's grown over the years.
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Chris Bergin
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jmcgauley
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #3 on:
03/18/2015 12:10 pm »
I discovered NSF while chasing launch dates for the hail-delayed STS-117 mission! Hands down the best spaceflight news resource I've ever encountered, and I've been consuming spaceflight news since AT LEAST 1977. Had the chance to work with Chris once on a marketing project for the site and have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences here.
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Chris Bergin
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Andy DC
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #4 on:
03/18/2015 12:11 pm »
Joined in 2011 after seeing the site mentioned on a MSNBC article, Alan Boyle I believe. This place was already a treasure trove of rocket news and it's only grown since. Something for everyone here. Amazing work and congratulations!
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Chris Bergin
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Nomadd
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #5 on:
03/18/2015 12:12 pm »
I remember picking the lifetime deal 9 years ago while I was floating around the Gulf, finishing up the last of the Katrina jobs. I hoped it didn't turn out to be like that 3 year gym membership.
Looks like I made a good choice.
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Chris Bergin
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Peter NASA
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #6 on:
03/18/2015 12:17 pm »
It's partly my fault. I was one of the folk who reccomended Chris start this site.
To say he hasn't let us down is an understatement. What a lot of you don't get to see is his professionalism in reporting, examples of which I can't really say without breaching that, but he's a very fair and objective reporter without resorting to dramtics. That will be why he has the trust of many in the industry.
This is a fine site and by far my favorite site, as a NASA manager and as a space fan.
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MattMason
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
«
Reply #7 on:
03/18/2015 12:19 pm »
I'm still a newbie and counting my change to send for an L2 membership.
But I've never found such an active, vibrant, moderated and informative space information site, ever. I've been a space enthusiast since I was seven and have finally found a home full of "geeks" like myself that enjoy the world of spaceflight.
Of course, spaceflight had (and has) its dry and dark days with losses of various kinds. I had discovered NSF indirectly after the mangled-video recovery of one of the Falcon landings (the site's name threw me off, thinking it was another official NASA site at first). And I remembered it when I wanted to watch ORB-2 and then ORB-3.
I was literally reading up on the goings-on about SpaceShipTwo on its general thread hours before its tragic accident, with ParabolicArc casually noting of the test flight in the thread as relayed by others and getting news of the accident first, right here.
Been hooked ever since, and hope to add a few contributions of my own in the NSF Space Modeling thread in the coming year.
NSF is a wonderful resource with great, informed people. And that's not even counting what bounties I'll find on L2 once I drain a few more Monopoly game boxes of their tender. Congratulations, all, and thanks for the fun.
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Chris Bergin
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robertross
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #8 on:
03/18/2015 01:02 pm »
Well it's coming up on 7 years for me here. I can't be 100% certain what I was looking for, but doing my usual Google search for obviously something space related (I believe it was a spacewalk with Shuttle docked at the ISS), I came upon this site. I'm sure the experience has been like so many others: I got hooked.
I've browsed a couple other sites since (never having registered, just seeing what's out there), but none have the same 'feel' as this one. That's a credit to Chris B. and all the contributors on this site.
Then when I joined L2, never had I imagined the true depth of documentation requirements & safety of spaceflight until I began reading into the shuttle documentation packages: from pre-launch mission assurances & reviews, to on-orbit daily summaries, all the way throught to post-landing TPS imagery. And the manuals! Oh boy, what a treat.
Thank-you Chris and all for the amazing ride so far.
Happy 10th!
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Chris Bergin
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JasonAW3
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #9 on:
03/18/2015 01:55 pm »
I think, if memory serves, I first 'encountered' this site whe I was looking up some info on the early Falcon 1 flights.
Since then, it has been like an addiction, gathering news and data about the industry, having involved discussions with people in the know, and generally sharing and developing ideas with people here on the site.
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Chris Bergin
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My God! It's full of universes!
cro-magnon gramps
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
«
Reply #10 on:
03/18/2015 02:19 pm »
Congratulations Chris, and NSF. Doesn’t seem like 10 years. What a roller coaster ride it has been.
I’d found this site around Christmas 2008 and lurked for a couple of months. How I found it is a mystery lost in time, but my first post was to Chuck, regarding the Direct proposal. After that it was all down hill ;-) I’ve made my share of mistakes, got flamed or sent to the penalty area, had Mods after me, but one thing, even in the Dark Days after the 2010 budget, it never got as bad as some of the other forums out there. For which we can thank Chris and his organizational skills with the volunteer mods and writers. It has always kept a high standard, and succeeded where others have fallen off the boat.
Thank you to everyone, who has made this a safe site for a newbie and “fanboi” to express an opinion.
Thanks Chris
PS just a reminder to renew your L2 sub ;-)
PPS:
Signed up - 03/16/2009 07:01 PM
First Post - 03/17/2009 12:12 PM
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Chris Bergin
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Gramps "Earthling by Birth, Martian by the grace of The Elon." ~ "Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but it has not solved one yet." Maya Angelou ~ Tony Benn: "Hope is the fuel of progress and fear is the prison in which you put yourself."
hpras
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
«
Reply #11 on:
03/18/2015 02:50 pm »
Just a general geek, mostly a reader, very occasional poster, and general asker of stupid questions (Yes, the Centaur vent). Claim to fame on the site though was that I spotted Wayne Hale's new blog site after he left NASA and started the thread on it, correctly renamed by Chris.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=22791.msg639959#msg639959
Great site!
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Chris Bergin
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DMeader
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #12 on:
03/18/2015 02:50 pm »
Ten years? Time flies when you're having this much fun. Happy birthday NSF!! Here's to the NEXT ten!
Registered 9/11/06. Have I really been coming here 8 1/2 years?? Amazing how things become a part of your life without you even noticing.
«
Last Edit: 03/18/2015 02:51 pm by DMeader
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PahTo
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #13 on:
03/18/2015 02:57 pm »
Happy Birthday!
Congrats to Chris, the knowledgeable and engaged contributors, and the community that supports the whole thing! While I first posted in April 2008, I followed (lurked) the site for about a year before that, determining that I better post informed, meaningful things instead of junk, such is the crowd here.
Thanks for all the great info, energy and interest--here's to the next 10 years and beyond!
-Tom
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kcrick
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #14 on:
03/18/2015 02:57 pm »
I like to give Chris B. a BIG THANK YOU for the site! And also to all the contributors - thank you for the informative info!
I stumbled across this site in mid 2007 while searching the internet for info about the Constellation program.
Became a member on May 5, 2009 and have been a L2 member since May 5, 2012. I don't post a lot, but I survey the forums every day for any new info. I visit other sites, too, to see what's going on, but I always come here first.
Here's to many more years of service!
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Chris Bergin
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Kevin
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #15 on:
03/18/2015 03:12 pm »
I first visited NSF in July 2008 (IIRC) thanks to the DIRECT team using here as the main discussion forum (and I bumped into DIRECT because someone linked its Wikipedia article to the Space Shuttle Wikipedia article). Gradually I started to read other parts of the forum but was never bothered to register until April 2010 (just before STS-131) and didn't really start frequent posting till summer 2011. From there on my interest in spaceflight literally exploded.
This is really a good place for consolidation of all things spaceflight, and I am glad that I have found here as well as making some little contribution by translating info related to all things about Chinese spaceflight. Today, I don't think I can live without visiting NSF some time every day, and I really hope that I can do that for the next decade of NSF.
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Chris Bergin
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Astronomy & spaceflight geek penguin. In a relationship w/ Space Shuttle Discovery. Current Priority: Chasing the Chinese Spaceflight Wonder Egg & A Certain Chinese Mars Rover
Tuts36
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
«
Reply #16 on:
03/18/2015 03:15 pm »
I'm mostly a lurker here, because I am one of the many people for whom math doesn't come naturally or easily. Nevertheless I visit this site almost daily, because I appreciate the depth of knowledge and enthusiasm this community has for every aspect of space flight - far beyond the repetitive fluff pieces in typical media.
I suspect there are more people here like me, who might not have much to contribute to the discussion, but value finding a good place to become better informed. I learn something new here all the time. And just because a person doesn't work in a scientific field doesn't mean that we don't know that space exploration is important to us all.
Thank you, thank you for this forum. It is clearly a labor of love, and I hope 10 years is just the beginning!
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Chris Bergin
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kirghizstan
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #17 on:
03/18/2015 03:18 pm »
Who was the first member?
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Chris Bergin
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
«
Reply #18 on:
03/18/2015 03:18 pm »
Quote from: kirghizstan on 03/18/2015 03:18 pm
Who was the first member?
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=profile;u=4
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KEdward5
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clongton
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Re: NASASpaceFlight.com - 10 years old
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Reply #19 on:
03/18/2015 03:20 pm »
Quote from: cro-magnon gramps on 03/18/2015 02:19 pm
...but my first post was to Chuck, regarding the Direct proposal.
I remember it. It was about the timeline to a 1st test flight.
Anyway, I joined on October 25th, 2005, just 6 months after Chris pulled the trigger. So in 6 months I'll be here 10 years too. It was already growing massively by then. Good news travels fast in this industry and word was getting around *really* fast about the new and VERY good news site called NasaSpaceflight.com. Chris had already clearly demonstrated his dedication to fairness, both to his members and to his sources. He was already trusted industry-wide with confidential information that he withheld, as promised, until he was told he could release it. His high standards of journalism, his professionalism, and his ever even handed way of dealing with everybody, and I do mean everybody, with the same standard, is today the gold standard of how a professional journalist should behave and, more than anything else has been, imo, the driving reason why this site is today completely unmatched by any other site on earth. Very few are willing to do what he does, consistently. Thank you Chris, and thank you to all that he has trusted with site responsibilities. You are all top shelf professionals and it shows in the way you do your jobs. I love this site - I really do.
I lift my pint to the last 10 years and again to the next.
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Chuck - DIRECT co-founder
I started my career on the Saturn-V F-1A engine
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