Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Re: An interview

Re: A translation

Ok, Keith, well, here's a picture from the magazine:

http://www.geocities.com/galaxie_m31/ck1.jpg

(I'm not sure how clear or dark it is). BTW, there's a june 2001 issue of the magazine just in front of your laptop, it seems:-)
And here's a quick translation (I'm not guaranteeing every word, of course):

The one responsible for the bothersome NasaWatch site is a free man who openly says what NASA tries to hide. With the years, his site has become a reference.

Keith Cowing must be a happy man : he mixed his two passions, space and the Internet, to have a job. He doesn’t know the pressures from the hierarchy, the stress from the traffic jams, the anxiety of efficiency, being published at all cost. He works at home, in T-Shirt at Reston near Washington DC ; he is gardening, plays jack of all trades at home before coming back in front of his screens. And then says loudly what others think quietly.
He’s the father of a trouble maker internet site aiming towards NASA. NasaWatch has become unavoidable for those who want to understand what’s behind the official version. He also started other internet sites like Spaceref.com, the Astrobiology web or Genomics which allow him to live.
How can he combine those various jobs without being superficial ? Because he has a formation with multiple sides . Like many americans his age (45), he grew up (in Connecticut) being fascinated by the Apollo flights, Shepard, Glenn. His office is full of space related models , sky maps above his 3 PC’s. But before this, he went through many ways : politics, biology, arts and space. I’m an eclectic, he says.
After school, he studied biology (master) and learned the American Sign Language (for deafs) and in 1980, caught the politics virus, running for Jerry Brown.
Then he returned back to his studies (electrotechnical engineer and arts) and went back to the space field in 1986, joining the the American Institute for Biological Science. He reviewed NASA’s life science programs and from then on, space becomes his main job. NASA was looking for a bio-engineer in order to manage the needs of researchers with experiments aboard the station. But in spite of his passion for space, Keith can’t feel at ease within NASA and its new administrator. He says : Goldin is also a space fan but he doesn’t respect people, he constantly goes from hot to cold. In 1993, Keith left NASA and returned back to the AIBS where he examined medical research programs (breast cancer detection for instance) and was the intermediary between engineers and scientists for the ISS. In the middle 90’s, the internet became known and he wanted to find out more about it. His wife, Jennifer, is a webmaster in a private company and taught him how to make a site. He dedided to make a job out of it and be on his own. He started Genomics (for the pharmaceutic industry). Then, later, decided to found a site , for space, as sort of a a joke and made fun of NASA (that didn’t appreciate) but the site became quite successful. Six months later, I started NasaWatch with the aim towards denouncing the layoffs that were going to take place without any real justification. Keith gets a lot of info from NASA insiders. « I’ve got 20,000 informers, especially NASA employees ». « I recoup the info and comment on it » ; « I simply say what I think ». There are no adds at Nasawatch, its the cost of freedom. Keith doesn’t earn anything from his site, he just wants to fight against secrecy. « Several months ago the X43 was a total failure but NASA called it a hitch. Why not say what it really was ? ». With time, Nasawatch became more and more credible. Keith would always correct an online info if it was demonstrated as wrong. Who checks his site ? The space community, inside and abroad, the congress, the White House, journalists, students. « I’m an internet creature, without it I’d be unknown » . But he’s been called all over for interviews on TV channels, radios, answering to journalists and has no time to practice his favorites hobbies like mountainclimbing, scuba diving or skiing.
He earns his living through other sites like SpaceRef.com which is linked to the Discovery channel. « That site, it’s me without my opinions » : its pure astronomy and space info. But he’s tireless and is busy writing 2 books : one science-fiction and another one about the ISS.
It looks like Keith Cowing is a happy fellow.

Raoul

Log in or register to post.

The whole thread (20 posts)