April 7, 2010

David E Steitz Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1730 david steitz@nasa gov

RELEASE: 10-077

SPACE AVAILABLE: NASA EMBRACES OPEN GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE

WASHINGTON -- Whether using social networks to allow students to interact directly with astronauts, or creating a cloud computing platform to give unprecedented access to scientific data, NASA's embrace of Open Government has made it a leader among federal agencies

In December 2009, the White House issued the Open Government Directive calling on executive branch agencies to become more open and accountable The directive is centered on the principles of transparency, collaboration, and participation NASA released the first version of the agency's Open Government Plan on Wednesday:

http://www nasa gov/open/plan

Through information technology systems and NASA's award-winning Web site, NASA GOV, America's space program is expanding transparency, participation and collaboration while providing a new level of openness and accountability

NASA is focusing on embedding Open Government Initiative principles into three specific aspects of operations -- policy, technology and culture

Through a new policy initiative, NASA is working to make open source software development more collaborative to benefit the agency and public NASA technology has created "Nebula," the U S government's only cloud computing platform, which offers an easier way for NASA scientists and researchers to share large, complex data sets with external partners and the public The creation of a new NASA Participatory Exploration Office will infuse more public participation into NASA's mission as part of a culture change to directly engage people in exploration

Through participation in NASA's Open Government Initiative and the use of the Citizen Engagement Tool on the agency's Web site, NASA has received hundreds of ideas for improving openness and transparency, more suggestions than any other government agency

NASA continues to provide the public live access to its missions through NASA TV and streaming video feeds over the Web NASA education outreach programs include projects where students interact with astronauts and take controls of space instruments remotely NASA's highly successful Centennial Challenges prize program has engaged inventors from around the country to successfully build prototypes of technology and innovation for use in space

To learn more about the White House Open Government Initiative, visit:

http://www whitehouse gov/open

To learn more about Open Government at NASA, visit:

http://www nasa gov/open

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

https://aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/example/example com/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]