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NASA Releases Cool, Free iPhone App
lenehey writes "A new free iPhone app provided by NASA was released today. The app lists each of NASA's missions, and allows you to see a brief description, the latest news updates, images, videos, etc., corresponding to that mission. A timer is also provided for each mission, logging the days, hours, and seconds until (or since) the mission launch."
Until Apple bans it because they want to carve their logo into the moon, and can't support a competing application.
There's an app for that.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
The mission orbit tracking screen (available for some missions that are in orbit around the Earth, like the International Space Station), shows the current orbit position of a selected spacecraft.
How am I supposed to avoid hitting them if it only shows "selected" ones? The app isn't of much use if I have to go back to my computer to find the others.
Looks like the app is slashdotted... "NASA iPhone Downloads Failed". LOL
What part of this couldn't be achieved with a website? Is there really any reason to be developing iPhone apps for a service like this rather than letting us all use it?
How long until someone releases a "We Didn't Really Land on the Moon!" App?
... they release this as the shuttle is about to be permanently retired, with no similar replacement due anytime soon. Granted we will still be sending plenty of astronauts up in rockets, but I suspect the shuttle launches generally drew more public attention.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
NASA Press Release: 'Making NASA more accessible to the public is a high priority for the agency,' said Gale Allen, director of Strategic Integration and Management for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington. 'Tools like this allow us to provide users easy access to NASA information and progress at a fast pace.' Apple Insider: 'New study shows iPhone users to be in a class by themselves'.
Gosh, am I glad they're not mine: I would be mightily pissed off, a web site would be accessible by everyone, not just an elite, and if the IS a website, the app is redundant.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
How long until someone writes a distributed computing app like this where the "main function" uses little CPU but uses a lot of time (like reading does).
I am a PC.
Google.
Life without walls.
Now I can look for water on the Moon -- from my iPhone!
Gods don't kill people, people with gods kill people.
To everyone posting to say that "It should be a website!1!!": It is a website, of course -- or rather, all this info is already available on NASA's website. NASA has a fabulous web presence, and has for a long time. The iPhone app just makes selected information available in a nice form-factor for mobile. Could this have been done as WAP pages, so Blackberry/Android/whatever users could see it? I guess, sure, but it wouldn't be as nice as the iPhone app. It's an experiment, guys. Not wasteful, not elitist. Lighten the hell up.
Cantankerous old coot since 1957.
Surely NASA shouldn't be showing favouritism to Apple in this way, by only releasing the app on one platform?
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
You don't ask: What kind of iPhone specific technology and coding advantages (remember:NASA) made this app available on iPhone while other smart phones having same capabilities (even J2ME big screen!) existing for years?
That is one hell of a question we Symbian, J2ME and possibly Windows Mobile users are asking every single day. Of course, Nokia, Sun, MS should ask it themselves first. It seems Nokia got what was wrong and trying to change its attitude but it will take months/years to overcome "Symbian is hard" prejudice. Sun? They do nothing... Absolutely nothing at all and I speak about near 1 billion mobile devices.
App must be getting its data from some site, possibly in XML form (too tired to run Wireshark). They could make the API available to any developer wanting to make an application like that with basic (non apple like) guidelines.
That could prevent a lot of questions. They are lucky that I am not an American tax payer. I would have some real questions to them and people in charge.
Look to BBC Website comments on every single stupid technical change they propose. British start the sentence with "I am paying my license fee." If you pay taxes, you have paid for that iPhone/iPod application too.
Of course, enjoy your passive, slashdot comment mocking, that is what they trust while making an exclusive for a single brand's closed platform.
Reminds me of some great software from the late 80s/early 90s by the late Dave Ransom. JPLClock made its way around the BBSes pretty rapidly, and was one of my favorite pieces of freeware.
Is there really any reason to be developing iPhone apps for a service like this rather than letting us all use it?
or
What kind of iPhone specific technology and coding advantages (remember:NASA) made this app available on iPhone while other smart phones having same capabilities [...] existing for years?
or
I would be mightily pissed off, a web site would be accessible by everyone, not just an elite
or
they are lucky that I am not an American tax payer. I would have some real questions to them and people in charge.
ad nauseum. Poor babies. No fun getting a taste of what Mac users have been dealing with for years, is it? At least you have the option of getting access to the material on NASA's Web site. It's not always that easy for people on non-Microsoft platforms.
from that description, it sounds like a website. Why bother making a whole app when the web browser already exists, and it's open and standard?
--
Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!
... we can turn on director's comments, view the storyboard, alternate endings, deleted scenes, bloopers, etc.
Have gnu, will travel.
I'm not Minwee, but I discovered The Tick long before they aired the show. Best. Villains. Ever. Besides, who can not love a nigh invulnerable super hero that... well, let's face it, isn't really sure he's in the same headspace with himself half the time?
Wulfe
Why the sales pitch? The app is from NASA isn't it, and this is slashdot right? A headline like that, on this site, makes me not trust it at all...
These assholes made it for 3.0 and later only, and I'm not paying apple a penny more for it, so sorry NASA