Author Topic: A word on NASASpaceflight.com and NASA TV coverage of STS-133  (Read 23930 times)

Offline David AF

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I would like to mention my apprecation for all the hard work from the NSF team in the amazing coverage of STS-133.

L2 has been awesome as always. Don't think we've seen so much content before for a mission. Excellent firehosing of coverage.

The news articles have been top level as always. Chris B and Chris G, you are excellent writers, without the dramatics used by some media, but always insightful and interesting. The depth, with over 110 articles, is special.

The live threads have been required reading. You can always catch up, or follow live. No noise, just coverage and personality at times from Chris, which makes it even more enjoyable. Never missed a beat, a great coverage team.

NASA TV. Usually the weak leak with monotonous coverage, but for this mission it was excellent. PAO Josh B deserves special praise for his commentary and this mission has honored Discovery in the right way.

Thank you all, and thank you Discovery.
F-22 Raptor instructor

Offline NavySpaceFan

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I concur with my Zoomie friend!!!  Well done to Chris (both of them), Ron, Pete, and everyone else who contributed to mission coverage, huzzah!!!!!
« Last Edit: 03/09/2011 04:51 pm by NavySpaceFan »
<----First launch of DISCOVERY, STS-41D!!!!

Offline chksix

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Agree on all points and want to add a special thanks to NASA and UStream HD for using strong servers for the tv. This was the first time I could watch the whole last 6hrs without reloading the embedded player.
Hoping for a future of NASA manned spaceflight

Offline Chris Bergin

Thank you sir.

As noted, this site wouldn't be anywhere near as good without the team. Too many people to mention, but obviously Chris G, who we're so lucky to have on here, such a great writer and great to have at KSC, and a big mention for Pete - who's come from nowhere to be Mr ISS (from an article production standpoint) - for his pre-133 articles relating to ISS elements.

Philip at JSC has been fantastic, both from article content and site representation standpoints.

The MaxQ team representing the site for video and images content - again class. Special mention to Jacques for his contributions too.

Ron has been his usual brilliant self with his non-stop updates. Supporting role from numerous others (Aaron, Roger, Steven, Nick and many others - sorry, wasn't expecting this thread and I'm mentally drained!). Special mention to Moonbase, not just for his updates, but also because of who he is.

Again, a huge thanks to our contributors (not sure I like to call them sources, as that's a bit of a dirty word) who have helped L2, and helped the entire site as a result, and to our L2 members who allow of to keep the entire site live and healthy (notice how the servers cope now - that's totally because of L2 revenue paying for them. Can't stress that enough, we're not a company, but we are a reasonably big site. Wouldn't survive without L2).

Totally agree about NASA PAO Josh, and as noted numerous times on the live threads. He's a superstar PAO in the making. Really enjoyed his - and all of the official NASA coverage - this mission.

Most of all, thanks to the teams which care and protect Discovery, both on the ground and on orbit. It's a privilege to cover the space program because they are inspirational. The way they work motivates you to attempt to be as professional - as impossible as that is. Amazing to see these teams at work, and we should all remember a lot of them are coming to the end of their careers, a lot for the wrong reasons, yet they still give their blood and sweat to make this all work. Got to admire that.

Oh and I'm glad you appreciated my rubbish humor at times, and thanks to the random fruit on the ISS FD console as the main source of that :D

Pace doesn't slow down. We'll cover Discovery through deservicing and we have STS-134 coming right up.
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Offline psloss

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PAO Josh B deserves special praise for his commentary and this mission has honored Discovery in the right way.
When I told him that he was a favorite PAO commentator in the forums, Josh noted his past experience with CBS; the Wikipedia entry provides a little overview:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Byerly

(Importantly, he's an Aggie. :) )

(Ducks.)

Offline STS Tony

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This site rules.


When I told him that he was a favorite PAO commentator in the forums, Josh noted his past experience with CBS;


I guess he might of said "great, thanks" first, not "Oh, tell them I worked for CBS." :D

Offline Naito

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Seconded, fantastic coverage as always, this site is simply the best of all the space sites!
Carl C.

Offline psloss

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This site rules.


When I told him that he was a favorite PAO commentator in the forums, Josh noted his past experience with CBS;


I guess he might of said "great, thanks" first, not "Oh, tell them I worked for CBS." :D
I'm summarizing. ;D

Offline racshot65

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I'd like to add add my thanks as well to everyone who helped cover the mission and allowed me to quickly catch up on what's going on when I couldn't watch live

I think one of the most important things this site does is preserve the mission for all time

People will be able to come back and read these threads in 10,20,30 years and get a real sense of what people were feeling and see the incredible achievements of the program

« Last Edit: 03/09/2011 08:39 pm by racshot65 »

Offline DavisSTS

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So agree. It's an amazing experience on this site. I'd be lost without it.

Offline chksix

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If Chris can't maintain the site in the future it should be funded by NASA or the Smithsonian :)
Hoping for a future of NASA manned spaceflight

Offline Space Pete

Checking this site is always one of the highlights of my day. I love reading the updates and comments from everybody here.

One of the best things about this site is the way it chronicles every aspect of the mission, minute-by-minute, right down to nuts-and-bolts level detail. If I'm away from my PC all day and can't follow the mission, then scrolling through the thread seeing all the NASA TV screengrabs is the best way to catch up on what's happened, as articles/press releases just give the gist of things, not the detail.

This site is the only place on the web that archives NASA TV screengrabs, which is not only great to catch up on what's happened, but is also great for the purpose of historical archiving - again, this is the only site that consolidates everything into one place, in chronological order.

Thanks Chris for the accolades, and for bestowing me with the title "Mr. ISS". I love writing for this site, and it's great to be able to give something back to this fantastic community.

And Chris, you are absolutely right that the pace won't slow down - do you know how many ISS flight events we've got coming up? :D
NASASpaceflight ISS Editor

Offline david5512

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Finding this site, has been like dying and going to heaven.  Now I need to save up the money for an L2, to help Chris and the site with costs.  An amazing web site for sure. :)

Offline astrobrian

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STS-134 coming right up........ and we thought we would get to get some sleep?  :o ;D

 

Offline Mapperuo

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Thank you to the forum, site staff and to NASA TV for the good quality HD streams. Look forward to doing it all over again in a month or so.  ;D
- Aaron

Offline Peter NASA

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Thank you sir.

As noted, this site wouldn't be anywhere near as good without the team. Too many people to mention, but obviously Chris G, who we're so lucky to have on here, such a great writer and great to have at KSC, and a big mention for Pete - who's come from nowhere to be Mr ISS (from an article production standpoint) - for his pre-133 articles relating to ISS elements.

Philip at JSC has been fantastic, both from article content and site representation standpoints.

The MaxQ team representing the site for video and images content - again class. Special mention to Jacques for his contributions too.

Ron has been his usual brilliant self with his non-stop updates. Supporting role from numerous others (Aaron, Roger, Steven, Nick and many others - sorry, wasn't expecting this thread and I'm mentally drained!). Special mention to Moonbase, not just for his updates, but also because of who he is.

Again, a huge thanks to our contributors (not sure I like to call them sources, as that's a bit of a dirty word) who have helped L2, and helped the entire site as a result, and to our L2 members who allow of to keep the entire site live and healthy (notice how the servers cope now - that's totally because of L2 revenue paying for them. Can't stress that enough, we're not a company, but we are a reasonably big site. Wouldn't survive without L2).

Totally agree about NASA PAO Josh, and as noted numerous times on the live threads. He's a superstar PAO in the making. Really enjoyed his - and all of the official NASA coverage - this mission.

Most of all, thanks to the teams which care and protect Discovery, both on the ground and on orbit. It's a privilege to cover the space program because they are inspirational. The way they work motivates you to attempt to be as professional - as impossible as that is. Amazing to see these teams at work, and we should all remember a lot of them are coming to the end of their careers, a lot for the wrong reasons, yet they still give their blood and sweat to make this all work. Got to admire that.

Oh and I'm glad you appreciated my rubbish humor at times, and thanks to the random fruit on the ISS FD console as the main source of that :D

Pace doesn't slow down. We'll cover Discovery through deservicing and we have STS-134 coming right up.

Excellent work, Chris and team.

Online robertross

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I would like to mention my apprecation for all the hard work from the NSF team in the amazing coverage of STS-133.

L2 has been awesome as always. Don't think we've seen so much content before for a mission. Excellent firehosing of coverage.

The news articles have been top level as always. Chris B and Chris G, you are excellent writers, without the dramatics used by some media, but always insightful and interesting. The depth, with over 110 articles, is special.

The live threads have been required reading. You can always catch up, or follow live. No noise, just coverage and personality at times from Chris, which makes it even more enjoyable. Never missed a beat, a great coverage team.

NASA TV. Usually the weak leak with monotonous coverage, but for this mission it was excellent. PAO Josh B deserves special praise for his commentary and this mission has honored Discovery in the right way.

Thank you all, and thank you Discovery.

Echoeing these same thoughts as David. Thank you Chris, and all.

This place, this team, is a true inspiration. I can't imagine what life would be like without this website to feed my appetite for space news. L2 is a priveledge, and I thank all who contribute to our love of space information & content.

And may these final flights of Discovery, Endeavour, and Atlantis help to inspire a new generation to join in the enthusiasm for science, space & exploration.

Online rocketguy101

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When I told him that he was a favorite PAO commentator in the forums, Josh noted his past experience with CBS; the Wikipedia entry provides a little overview:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Byerly

(Importantly, he's an Aggie. :) )

(Ducks.)


whoop!  I knew there was something specially good about him! :D

Seriously thanks to all the writers, posters, contributers, et al.  This site is a fantastic resource and beats anything else out there for space coverage, especially the live events.

thank you, thank you!
« Last Edit: 03/10/2011 12:14 am by rocketguy101 »
David

Offline TFGQ

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i thought the coverage was great and i also thought  the countdown on launch was pretty wild to say the least that was crazy thanks to everyone who provided images of this historic event  Hail Discovery ov-103
Life is a magical thing -- Laurel Clark

Offline Seattle Dave

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Everything David said about this site. Just keeps on getting better, and in places you wouldn't think possible like L2.

Offline Spooks

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I will admit, I found this sit WAY too late!!

I have followed NASA since I could say NASA, the Shuttle since John and Cripp flew in 81, I stayed up all night to watch it so I wouldn't over sleep!

I was 14 then, and through out the years, from watching NASA Select on C-Band, to present day, I have not found a more on the spot, informative site, with INSIDE NEWS and events, than this site!!

I own a could of websites, and totally understand the costs involved, across the board, but this one, with all that is given for free, and the tiny amount for L2 and ALL the information given to you, is the best there is out there, hand down!!!!

Thank you Mr. Bergin and all of those that make this site possible, and all of those within NASA and those that are just there because they want to be, make this site great!!!!!
Spooks is my nickname for 20+ years, I'm David and I'm a Space Junky!

Offline Frandolf

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As always I am late and catching up what was already writen in the posts.

So, I can only underline what was already mentioned.

And, I know, this is not the PAO-Thread, but I had the feeling the other PAOs improved this time as well. In particular it was a lot of fun how Brandy was interviewing the other people in the flight control room and joking about herself and her unability to pronounce the abreviations.  ;D

Offline Tourmaline

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Indeed, this site has been invaluable to me since I found it around the time of STS-124.  Hearty ISS-sized thanks to everyone who works so hard to make it the goldmine of information and enthusiasm it is. 

And if anyone is reading this thread and wondering if it's worth investing in a L2 subscription, my personal view is that once subscribed, you'll wonder why you waited so long.  Your inner spaceflight nerd will be performing a dance of joy at all the goodies ;)

Offline Chris Bergin

Really appreciate the kind words on here :)
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Offline andy_l

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Just like to add my thanks to Chris and the whole team for the (as ever) superb coverage. I've been an L2 member for a couple of years now and the quality and breadth of information along with high calibre of forum posts never ceases to amaze.

Cheers all.

Offline ChrisC

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The NSF coverage and forum activity here is fantastic of course.  Personally I'm happy that this place provides me with an outlet for my obsessive logging of activity on the NASA TV HD channel :) (see links in my sig below).

I particularly happy to see praise for Josh Byerly here.  While I recognize and appreciate all of the other PAOs, Josh is my favorite for his command of the facts and steady stance.  I especially appreciate him when Rob Navias is up and giving us his lugubrious delivery.  I know Rob is popular around here lately, but I remember a few years ago when everyone else here was rolling their eyes at him too.  What happened? :)

I don't have the time to hang out here between missions but I am glued to these forums in the week prior to and during missions.  Thanks to all the NSF contributors mentioned here, and see you all in about a month!
« Last Edit: 03/11/2011 01:22 am by ChrisC »
PSA #1: EST does NOT mean "Eastern Time".  Use "Eastern" or "ET" instead, all year round, and avoid this common error.  Google "EST vs EDT".
PSA #2: It's and its: know the difference and quietly impress grammar pedants.  Google "angry flower its" .  *** See profile for two more NSF forum tips. ***

Offline psloss

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I particularly happy to see praise for Josh Byerly here.  While I recognize and appreciate all of the other PAOs, Josh is my favorite for his command of the facts and steady stance.  I especially appreciate him when Rob Navias is up and giving us his lugubrious delivery.  I know Rob is popular around here lately, but I remember a few years ago when everyone else here was rolling their eyes at him too.  What happened? :)
Rob Navias, lugubrious?  Sounds like we need to fire up a PAO thread again. ;D

Offline Chris Bergin

Awww, got to love the Navias! I could listen to that man for hours on end.

He could read out his shopping list and you'd somehow end up feeling better informed about the space program by default.

"Milk - from the fridge - cold as the steppes of Kazakhstan when Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Max Suraev landed their Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft".

See what I mean! ;D
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Offline brueyh1976

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This place is amazing, I sub to L2 when I can afford to, it is amazing. Just want to say a big thank you to Chris and everyone who works with him. If it wasn't for this place, I would be so clueless and would be so behind on a mission as I work shifts
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Offline Kassonian

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Sorry for keeping this thread going past what might be its reasonable expiration date  :)

Short background -I was born two weeks after Sputnik, and grew up with Gemini and Apollo. Learned early on not to correct the grade school teachers when they said something stupid incorrect.

I found NASASpaceflight.com in October when planning my and my wife's trip to Discovery's planned November launch. We couldn't return for her February launch but this site kept me connected, and *almost* made me feel like I was there, from pre-launch to post-landing.

You've got quite a community here! So much information. I work with a bunch of engineers, and they are starting to ask me Shuttle-related questions. I'm thinking my response should start with "I'm not a rocket scientist but I *did* read L2 last night."

So back to what I originally wanted to say - Thanks to all of you expert contributors here who keep the rest of us updated!

Offline jsmjr

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"I'm not a rocket scientist but I *did* read L2 last night."

If you don't mind, I'm stealing this as my forum signature.

Offline psloss

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Another postscript: Josh Byerly wanted to pass along thanks for all the kind words here about his commentary during the flight, it means a lot to him.

Offline Chris Bergin

Sorry for keeping this thread going past what might be its reasonable expiration date  :)

Short background -I was born two weeks after Sputnik, and grew up with Gemini and Apollo. Learned early on not to correct the grade school teachers when they said something stupid incorrect.

I found NASASpaceflight.com in October when planning my and my wife's trip to Discovery's planned November launch. We couldn't return for her February launch but this site kept me connected, and *almost* made me feel like I was there, from pre-launch to post-landing.

You've got quite a community here! So much information. I work with a bunch of engineers, and they are starting to ask me Shuttle-related questions. I'm thinking my response should start with "I'm not a rocket scientist but I *did* read L2 last night."

So back to what I originally wanted to say - Thanks to all of you expert contributors here who keep the rest of us updated!

Really appreciate all the posts, and the one above is great! We must find a way to use that line ;D

And thanks for passing on about Josh, Philip. That's very nice :)
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