Submitted by:
Stephen P. Berczuk
Software Engineer
Center For Space Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
NE80-6015/ 1 Hampshire St
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
v: (617) 253-3840
f: (617) 253-8084
e: berczuk@mit.edu
Categories:
Research, academic
Keywords:
Innovative or improved ways of doing things; More equitable access to technology or electronic information; Creation of new ideas, products, or services; Technology transfer; Partnerships between public and private sector
The Story:
I am currently involved in a NASA sponsored project to develop an X-Ray Astronomy satellite (XTE- the X-Ray Timing Explorer) The software for the project is being developed by 3 groups:
- MIT, Cambridge, MA
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
- UCSD, San Diego, CA
Since the work is distributed among these three sites, communication is essential. We use the internet to supplement other means of contact such as teleconferences and face-to face meetings. The uses of the internet include:
- Exchange of technical documents in text or postscript form
- Exchange of source code
- Detailed technical discussions, which would be difficult to accomplish via phone calls because of scheduling conflicts or the level of technical detail.
While the internet does not remove the need for face-to face meetings and travel, it reduces the number of them and allows them to be more productive.
This may not be the most creative use of the internet, this project would be nearly impossible to do were it not for the facilities provided by the internet.