Nerd Alert: Wanna be a NASA 'insider'?

For some time now I have been getting "inside information" from NASA. It’s not that these things are unavailable to the general public, it’s just that most these stories, data and updates are not posted on the standard (or even off-the-beaten-path) news sites. One of these sources is NASA Tech Briefs. Available as a free printed subscription or web based service, NASA Tech Briefs is actually a collection of interviews with various personnel of interest, reports on developments in science and technology and various other articles. I have found this (and other free subscriptions related to NASA Tech Briefs) to be an endless source of fascinating and technical information. Though nothing classified is disclosed in them, you really get a sense of some of the things going on behind closed doors in research labs and on military bases around the country. For example: NASA is developing a deep-space version of the internet. Why? Maybe to enable bored astronauts to surf the Net during a future trip to Mars. Or perhaps for people in the "Solar Warden" program (if you believe that it even exists) to do the same. You can sign up for NASA Tech Briefs HERE.

Another great source for much more recent news is a subrisciption to NASA news bulletins via email. Though much less technical and far more timely, these are released quite frequently and keep you updated on the ever changing status of the space program. Such a subscription can be acquired HERE.