NASA+: Our New Streaming Service | Hacker News Reader

NASA+: Our New Streaming Service

nasa.gov

120 pointskristianpaul25 comments

Watching the SpaceX launches on the SpaceFlightNow youtube channel is an amazing thing. The amount of money people pledge for memberships/tips during each launch always amazes me.

If a hack organization like SFN (great ppl, but the hosts act like children) can make $$$$ by ripping half the NASA/SpaceX feeds, then NASA is deserving.

(Yes I am aware that SFN has it's own hardware and staff expenses. I have a ton of respect for them and what they continue to do)

It’d be great if this increased public engagement and interest.

I think the + could backfire in the name

It inspires "i don't need to pay for a NASA streaming service" as the + is used for paid stuff

We will see

Yeah immediately assumed it was a paid streaming service (which I wasn't against but pleasantly surprised)

Same. Was very confused for a second before internally realizing there's no way NASA would do that.

But you immediately knew it was a streaming service. That’s about all they need. The interested will follow up and learn it’s free. It would only take appending “the free streaming service” to mentions of it to assuage people, for that matter.

Meanwhile if they called it anything else worse confusion could ensue and have to be explained further. Basically, choose your confusion and what actually is conveyed at the same time. Nasa+ wins that one.

There was a demon that lived in NASA's streaming stack. They said whoever challenged him, would die. Their video controls would freeze up, their macroblocks would buffer wildly, and they would disintegrate. The demon lived at HD on the meter, 720 horizontal lines, where the data could no longer move out of the way. He lived behind a barrier through which they said no NASA video stream could ever pass. They called it: The quality barrier.

Then, they built a small streaming service, the plus, to try and break the quality barrier. And men came to the High Desert in California to code it. They were called test devs. And no one knew their names.

What were they using before - predominantly YouTube? Interesting wonder what the internal push toward independence was driven by. Can't just be the YouTube ads. But that makes me wonder if there's a real need to have this to maintain instead of partnering or building off a dedicated platform like YouTube

They are also on Twitch. I like that.

The 'NASA Public Education' site is good for ISS walks, launches etc.

https://video.ibm.com/nasahdtv

Earlier this year, I met some of the team behind the launch, and they love their job. They showed up with NASA pins for everyone, the geeked out over the launches, and just expressed a level of enthusiasm on bringing up this service that I rarely see elsewhere. If that team is reading this, I just want wish you good luck, you certainly pre-built a fan in me.

This is really cool. Can’t underestimate the power of this material to inspire future scientists. Hell I am a scientist and it inspires me too. I look forward to the launch (hehe)

At least it's free, I thought reading this that they already cache in way too insanely on taxpayer's money, and now they want people to pay for a steaming service. Thank god, it's not that.

The + in the name just makes people assume it's paid. It's the wrong name! It's nothing you play for to get something special/extra/plus.

Is this service going to be available outside of the US? I couldn't find any information on that in the press release.

I believe that content produced by NASA is largely available in the public domain, although there are restrictions concerning the use of images featuring staff members and the NASA emblem. This means there should be no geographical limitations on their distribution, which would likely apply to this service as well. I remember joking with my friends in Japan about the contrast with JAXA, who conspicuously mark their 'Earthrise' footage from the Moon with "(C)JAXA/NHK," while NASA's equivalent content is freely shared with the global community.

I am not sure if this is a direct/ indirect response to Youtube adblock ban. But I think more public media should move their content to their own services (as a way to make a statement)and keep it free. Perhaps a video broadcasting website for public domain content; a more popular archive.org

> But I think more public media should move their content to their own services (as a way to make a statement)and keep it free.

Technically, it's not free. Nothing is rarely free in this world. Our (people working in the US) tax dollars go to NASA and they use this money to build and support this new streaming system. Is this going to worth the effort and money? We will see.

I would love to understand the decision behind this when they have been "fine" with Twitch and YouTube all these years.

Is it already live?

I went on a circular loop clicking "Learn More" and landing up where I started. I haven't found any actual video streaming content other than the launch video / teaser of NASA+ itself.

What exactly is the URL for this new service?

It hasn't launched yet.

Since the service seems to be tied to the NASA app, will this be only available in the US?

Sign me up! This will be my go to while I work channel! :)

Can’t wait. My son is obsessed with all things space currently. This will be something we can both enjoy

you know streaming platforms have failed when every government agency has to have one

I love space. We wouldn't be here without it!

Sick!

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