Starship Asterisk*

I use APOD nearly every day with my high school students. It's their favorite part of the class and has spawned many discussions in the classroom! LOVE IT!

There needs to be an option for those of us who were very strongly interested before and remain just as interested now. APOD has not increased my interest - since it isn't possible to be much more interested than I was before I found APOD and not fall into some kind of obsessive behavior.

I can't say that APOD has increased my interest in NASA because I've always been very interested in NASA. But APOD is an absolute delight, and it's often my launch pad into other discoveries on NASA's web site. Thank you!

APOD is my browser starting page

I wouldn't say APOD has increased my interest in NASA. I've had a strong interest in space and space exploration for over 40 years. APOD is a superb way to see what's going on with astro-photography and art work. I love using NASA/Hubble images as background on web-sites. Am in the process of making a cross-device nebula slide show. APOD is beyond awesome for connecting us earthbound types to the universe around us.

APOD is a wonderful resource for science teachers trying to get students interested in astronomy and other space-related topics. I frequently will show the day's photo to a class to help them realize the wonder, depth and breadth of space studies. I also encourage kids (and my colleagues) to keep APOD on their marked favorites list or home page so they get in the habit of keeping up with all the wonderful research-based images and space phenomena that APOD highlights. Thank you for your work!

bobmacw wrote:There is one thing I see missing on the APOD page - a durable link for re-posting. There are many great APODs that I want to share, and in so doing get other people interested. But it seems the only way to do this is to wait until it's archived, and share the archive link. But maybe I'm just not seeing it.
Keep up the great work.

Psst, Bob - You don't have to wait for the APOD to be archived to send the link.

Two ways you can forward the link before it's archived. One: you can go down below the article where the link is for the archives, and click on the left arrow ( < ) next to it. This takes you to yesterday's APOD. Then you go down below that article and click on the caption for 'tomorrow's' picture and that takes you to what is actually today's APOD. You will notice that there is now a full link in the address bar. Highlight that, and paste it in your message to whomever you're sending the APOD.

The other way is to check out the difference in the address bar between today's APOD when you first go to the site, and when you go to yesterday's APOD. The difference is that there's a date in yesterday's APOD; but not one in today's - at first. Clear as mud, right? Here's an example, using today's APOD (06-25-12 which is a breathtakingly magnificent shot of the Milky Way over Piton l'Eau).

When you first go to today's APOD the address says http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html. When you go to the end of the article, look below it and there is a line of links, including the one for 'archives', which looks like this: < | Archive | Index | Search | Calendar | RSS | Education | About APOD | Discuss | > ) . Click on the left arrow < next to 'archives' and it takes you to yesterday's APOD (06-24-12, which is a pic of the Apollo 17 lunar rover). The address now says http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120624.html . Notice that it no longer says 'astropix', but instead 'ap' and there's a date in that address; year (12), month (06), Day (24).

Now - from the June 24 2012 pic of the Lunar Rover to get a link for the June 25 2012 pic of the Milky Way, you can either click on the title link for 'tomorrow's picture', which in this case is 'reflected galaxy' (Tomorrow's picture: reflected galaxy), and when it takes you to the 6/25/12 pic, copy and paste that address; or when you first go to the APOD page for today's picture, and the address reads http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html, just change the address to include the date, with 'ap': so now http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html (for 06-25-12) would read: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120625.html or whatever date you want.

I hope that helps. It's really not as difficult to do as it is to explain in writing.

As to the Reader's Poll, there needs to be a space for an explanation of why I would have chosen the 'neutral' choice because I've been a 'sky geek' pretty much since the day I was born. I was (and still am) fascinated with the stars and even more with traveling up there with them, so I followed stories of NASA in 'My Weekly Reader' and the daily newspaper and tv. When I discovered APOD it just enriched my 'sky' experience, and continues to do so. So - APOD has not increased my interest in NASA, because I was interested in NASA before I found APOD.

However - because some of these polls tend to take 'negative' or even neutral data, and use it to degrade or destroy or even remove a website, I voted 'strongly agree' instead of 'neither agree nor disagree'. I love APOD and I don't want to see it go.

Keep up the good work! The pictures are magnificent! The stories and links are fascinating. A very wise friend once told me that I should try to learn something new every day. Thank you, APOD and NASA, for helping me in my neverending search for knowledge.

I fall between jvv and zorks ... (and i was tempted to answer "disagree".. i think the survey question is poorly worded for most of us).. and i'm still willing to freeze my toes.
APOD (by itself) doesn't increase my interest in NASA. It helps maintain it.
It *does* cause me to appreciate that NASA is still allocating resources for public outreach in the popular vein.
It *is* one of our "start the morning" sites (along with EPOD and Earth Observatory page of the day)

Love the site and greatly appreciate the effort

Love the site and all the beautiful photographs. Unfortunately NASA is a lost cause due to budget cuts and general shortsightedness of too many people. If humans are to survive long term we must expand beyond this planet. Few understand this.

I'm with jvv and her/his comments. Although I strongly agreed that the APOD has increased my interest in NASA, that is really not true. I have been maximally interested in NASA and its missions since it was birthed out the NACA. What APOD does for me is 1) to show me in a very minor way the breadth and depth of the research carried on under the NASA aegis; 2) to show me the profound beauty in this science (to balance the profound beauty I see in the biological sciences wherein I do my own research) :fishy: , and last, but not least, to assist me in keeping a proper balance, focus, and perspective. To everybody involved with APOD, THANK YOU!!!

Thank you so much for teaching me something new every day. Keep up the amazing work!

Am always excited about space, especially with the Planetary Resources stepping up.

The handling of mission science info by NASA, not so much.
I cant get any info on basalts, and they finally released some of the geology mapping.
I can't get access to any of the reports that were at the SRI convention ?
They are being led around by the SLS, and can't keep commercial crew funded.
We are pouring all our money into Mars and Jovian, and can't get an ice planet program together.
I liked the NEO direction we were headed, and including the moon as a test bed for long term and eqpt testing is more essential right now, than another gas tester at mars or jupiter. We need to 3D print in space, lets learn how to do it NOW !

I used to go to unmanned spaceflight alot.
but with the minute amount of info released in drops by the lead scientists, is just frustrating.
Except the Cassini info, a bounty !

I wish I could find a NASA web page that was built like JPL's web site. JPL shows missions, then breaks them into past, present and planned, then when you select a particular mission, it gives you options like launch vehicle and continues through the science etc.. Where is Voyager 1? how far away now? That sort of thing.

Glenriven wrote:I wish I could find a NASA web page that was built like JPL's web site. JPL shows missions, then breaks them into past, present and planned, then when you select a particular mission, it gives you options like launch vehicle and continues through the science etc.. Where is Voyager 1? how far away now? That sort of thing.

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/index.html

At a rate of one quarter of one penny per tax dollar spent by the average taxpayer - the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an example of the best money spent.

Imagine what would happen to our technological capabilities if we increased that from one quarter penny to one half penny !

Please add to this list of best monies spent, USGS, National Park Service, National Forest Service, National Weather Service, United States Coast Guard and others.

Beautiful stuff; I've been reading since shortly after its inception.

I visit this site every day. The photos, info and links are most inspiring and interesting. I can't remember when I first discovered APOD but I've been through many computers since I did.

Thank you for a most wonderful site.

Curious poll; NASA in general or NASA missions?
I think APOD is an excellent channel for promoting interest in Astronomy and related sciences; not so much NASA as they have their own mission pages. Actually it gives visibility to less well known research organizations of which most of the general public is unaware.

EveningStarNM wrote:I can't say that APOD has increased my interest in NASA because I've always been very interested in NASA. But APOD is an absolute delight, and it's often my launch pad into other discoveries on NASA's web site. Thank you!

Ditto for us. We are both interested in NASA and astronomy in general. APOD has made NASA delights more accessible.

I share the APOD in our daily community e-newsletter.

Thank you.

I respectfully decline to answer the poll because the literally correct answer for me would be "strongly disagree", since my interest in NASA isn't likely to increase without becoming full blown OCD, and following APOD isn't likely to induce psychological disorders.

The greatest information I get about our place in the universe is a combination of this site (APOD) and science, astronomy documenteries on the Science, Histories, NASA, Discovery cable channels. Along with Scientific American, and Astronomy magazines.

Look!.. Up in the sky!... it's a moon, a planet, a sun, a star...! No.. It's Super Nova!

R. Hickey

one of the best site ever. a gift to mankind! congratulations to all the people involved!

I look forward to every photograph -they are all fascinating

John P

I have a daily cron job on my computer that fetches the latest image and makes it my wallpaper, but I always check the site manually so I can read the blurb.

I don't know that the site has increased my interest in NASA - I've been a fan since I was an 8-year-old boy following every detail of the Apollo program! But APOD certainly maintains my interest by keeping me informed about NASA's current missions.

Another John P

I voted "strongly agree" but also feel that it could be misleading. The APOD site reinforces my interest in NASA, and gives me a tool with which to interest others, but it would be quite a feat to increase my interest.
Thanks to all who have a hand in this project. It is a daily delight!