Why WorldWide Telescope Is World Wide Web

For months, I've called on Microsoft to do for the Windows PC what Apple does for the Mac: Use compelling application(s) to sell computers. Apple's iLife is a killer application for Macs. WorldWide Telescope, one of several exciting Microsoft incubation projects, could have been a must-have Windows program. I could envision some consumers and schools buying Windows just to get the exciting astronomy program.

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Last week, Microsoft did something quite unexpected: make WorldWide Telescope available via Silverlight for Web browsers. For Silverlight 3, that could also mean as an application separate from the browser. "Could it be that Microsoft really is serious about interoperability?" I mused.

Perhaps not. Today, Microsoft and NASA announced an agreement to bring the agency's Web imagery to WorldWide Telescope. Such cooperation might not possible if the images were distributed by Microsoft for a single platform. Microsoft and NASA are cooperating under terms set forth by the National Aeronautics and Space Act.

From Section 203(a): NASA shall "provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof." The August 2008 Space Act Agreement Guide offers further clarification. Suffice to say that it's in the best interests of Microsoft and NASA to widely distribute the images rather than confine them to Windows.

In this spirit, Chris Kemp, chief information officer at NASA's Ames Research Center, said in a statement:

NASA has a wealth of images and data, from the Apollo and Lunar Orbiter missions to Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Mercury Messenger flybys. This collaboration makes it possible for NASA to leverage exciting new Microsoft technologies to make NASA's data—and America's space program—more accessible to the public.

The rules of engagement aren't so simple, by the way. The Space Act lays down rules and guidelines for intellectual property and patent rights, which might cover the partnership, depending on the arrangement.

Microsoft still has lots to potentially gain from the agreement. Last week, Ames announced plans to build a new research facility on a 75-acre plot of land in Mountain View, Calif. Something else: NASA is perhaps the U.S. government's most Macintosh-friendly agency, and that includes Ames. Ha, Microsoft aims for Ames. Any cooperation between Microsoft and NASA is sure to include the company's proprietary technologies, starting with Silverlight. Microsoft is working with NASA at the right place at the right time.

The good news for you: WorldWide Telescope will get lots better content. Now, if Microsoft is really a company of very smart people, WorldWide Telescope will become a development platform. There are inklings of this. According to the WorldWide Telescope Website: "Software developed by third party software developers can add special features and tools to WWT. We are currently creating resources to simplify the development process." Microsoft is supposed to provide information at the WWT Data Blog, but there hasn't been much recent activity.

I'd like to see the project extended from Azure Services Platform with published APIs for educational and commercial use. Imagine student developers at university astronomy departments creating hosted applications and services from WorldWide Telescope, or the star maps being used to facilitate astronomical research or the search for extra-terrestrial life.

Among American society's unique characteristics, found almost nowhere else: strong ties between academia and business. There are benefits to both sides. Ha, just ask most any former-student-now-startup-entrepreneur in Silicon Valley.

It only takes a single, successful project for one company's technology to take root, grow in adoption and spread throughout academia. Such success pulls product sales and benefits the company's brand. From a purely business perspective, Microsoft's long-term goals for WorldWide Telescope should be academic entrenchment. What are projects like Google Earth really about? Many Google informational services clearly are intended to extend the company's brand and technologies throughout academia.

[Please send your tips or rumors to watchtips at gmail.com.]