NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

On October 3, Adobe Systems Incorporated announced the winners of the 2007 MAX Awards, placing NASA’s Web site entry, the Interactive Reference Guide of the International Space Station, above other entrants for the top honors in the Public Sector Category.

Now in its fifth year, the global awards program recognizes innovative applications of Adobe software for creating engaging experiences. This year Adobe received nearly 600 entries from 30 countries in seven categories.

Winners and finalists for the 2007 MAX Awards were selected by a team of Adobe judges. Selection criteria included innovation, application of technology, brand building and business impact and benefits.

“The NASA Web team continually is finding new and innovative ways of making NASA more accessible to the world,” said Ron Ticker, NASA’s manager for space station development and the project’s sponsor. “The Interactive ISS Reference Guide and its recognition is another testament to the team’s success in that endeavor.”

The Web site was produced by NASA Headquarters’ Web contractors and managed from their Space Ops Mission Directorate, but it’s truly a One NASA project with much of the Web content and how it’s displayed originating from JSC team members.

The Web site is based on the book The Reference Guide to the ISS, written by Gary Kitmacher of JSC’s ISS Program Office, and included significant contributions from people and organizations across the center. Information and materials came from areas such as the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate; Vickie Kloeris of Shuttle and ISS food Systems; Habitability and Environmental Factors Division; Space Medicine Division; Avionics and Software Office, and Avionics Systems Division; Paula Vargas and Mike Gentry of the Office of Communications and Public Affairs; and Carlos Fontanot and Dylan Mathis of the ISS Imagery working group who gathered images and videos.

Other contributors to related sections of the book and Web site include animations and artwork from local JSC contractors Tietronix, Marco Zambetti and Jack Frassanito, and valuable information and images from other center ISS organizations including our international partners.

With its video and interactive elements, the guide explains the basic operations and physical dimensions of the ISS. Astronaut Mike Fincke, who spent 6 months aboard the station, takes users on a virtual tour through the multimedia guide explaining how the crew works and lives in space, and demonstrates ISS operations throughout the 360-degree views of several station modules.

The agency’s Web presence takes another leap forward later this year with the rollout of a new design that allows Internet visitors to interact with the agency, create personal bookmark collections and playlists, and navigate and search more effectively.

For more information on the space station’s interactive feature, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station
Barbara Tomaro
Johnson Space Center