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Science Friday > Archives > 2003 > September > September 5, 2003:
Hour One: Future of NASA / Google

Last week, the investigative board looking into the loss of the space shuttle Columbia released its final report. In the document, the outside team of investigators reported that while the space shuttle itself was not inherently unsafe, a number of mechanical fixes should be required to make the shuttle safer in the short term. In addition, the report found major problems with NASA's management system, calling it unsafe to manage the shuttle system beyond the short term. The report also calledthe agency to task for its lack of a 'strong safety culture.' In this hour, we'll talk about the report and about where NASA should go from here.

Then, we'll turn our attention to a key need of the world wide web -- efficient, accurate searching. With the ever-growing, ever-changing nature of the web, tools to help navigate its masses of information are essential. We'll talk to one of the founders of Google, a search engine that has become a leader in searching the web -- so popular that 'to Google something' has become a synonym for searching. We'll talk about the technology behind the search engine, and talk with the author of a guide to Google about how to use the tool better. Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (2-3 Eastern), and share your opinions online in our Listeners' Lounge (registration required).

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Guests:
John Logsdon
Member, Columbia Accident Investigation Board
Director, Space Policy Institute
George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs
Washington, DC

Sherwood Boehlert
Member, US House of Representatives, representing New York's 24th District (R-NY)
Chair, House Committee on Science
Washington, DC

Sergey Brin
Co-Founder and President, Technology
Google, Inc
Mountainview, California

Rael Dornfest
Co-author, 'Google Hacks' and 'Google Pocket Guide' (O'Reilly, 2003)
Portland, Oregon

Books/Articles Discussed:

"Google Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools" by Tara Calishain and Rael Dornfest. O'Reilly & Associates, 2003.

"Google Pocket Guide" by Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest, D. J. Adams. O'Reilly & Associates, 2003.

(find more SciFri books here)
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Related Links:
Columbia Accident Investigation Board
NASA
NASA Shuttle Web Site

Google General FAQ
Search Engine Watch : Tips About Internet Search Engines & Search ...
ResearchBuzz ! -- Search engine news and information.
PageRank: Bringing Order to the Web
Slashdot | Craig Silverstein answers your Google questions
Fooling Google

This segment produced by Charles Bergquist and Anna Lee Strachan

 


 

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