Earlier this week I sent some interview questions to Patrick Hogan and Tom Gaskins of the NASA World Wind team. Here are their responses.

So you know the players mentioned above. Patrick Hogan is the NASA World Wind Project Manager and is the main person responsible for all interactions between NASA WW and various groups and agencies. Tom Gaskins is the NASA World Wind Project Lead developer for WWJava and is responsible for, well, WWJava development and interaction with supporting groups.

Q) How did the idea for NASA World Wind come up and when did it come up as something to try?

Get NASA into the classroom! And do it in a sustainable, dynamic, and compelling way. That was the mission mapped out in the summer of 2002. If we are going to open the pipeline to NASA data, we need something to deliver that data in the coolest way possible, 3D virtual reality! Thus NASA World Wind.

Q) Who was NASA World Wind originally intended for?

Everybody, but especially those who are fascinated by this world.

Q) How has NASA World Wind evolved from what it originally started out being?

Just keeps getting better. Open source allows the world to participate. By working together we all move forward.

Q) Did you ever think it would still being going this strong two and a half years later?

When you focus your energies and those rhyme with what you wish for life, and you have the kind of personnel typical of NASA, anything is possible.

Q) Do you think NASA World Wind would have worked out like it has without the community involvement?

The open source community has been the most magical element to this effort. Insurmountable obstacles present themselves, even for NASA. Without the open source community, we wouldn’t have had the needed turbo chargers at critical moments. Their contributions remain priceless, even today!

Q) Two part question: Best part of dealing with the community? Worst part of dealing with the community?

The best part is being associated with talented people who obviously care very much about doing great things. These are extraordinary individuals. The worst part is they just make you want more!

Q) How do you see World Wind in comparison to Google Earth and ArcGIS Explorer?

NASA World Wind is focused on science, but more than that, World Wind provides the opportunity for others to expand this open source visualization platform in ways only others can imagine.

Q) With World Wind Java coming out now, is this closer to how you had originally envisioned World Wind .NET as being?

Microsoft's .NET programming environment is phenomenal. So you get lots done at light speed. We have always felt the need to operate on all platforms. Java provides that opportunity. NASA wants to advance visualization technology in ways that will maximize the exchange of information. When government establishes the kind of open standards that industry can rally around, great things happen. Open source provides that opportunity, whether it’s .NET or Java.

Q) How is WWJava different from WW.Net in terms of its use, goals and development?

Same game, different race. We tend to get smarter with experience, so we think we have done a better job for the API-centric architecture with World Wind Java, by making it easier for others to either extend or embed according to their visualization needs.

Q) Several people (who shall remain anonymous) have said that WWJava development is not open source / open development. How would you respond to those critics that say that WWJava is not Open Source / Open Development?

Can you see the code? Can you play with the code? Can you add to the code? Can you use the code in ways that increase opportunity, be it personal or entrepreneurial? I’d say the answer these questions for World Wind are an easy yes. As for critics, if you don’t have any, you must not be doing anything.

Q) Lastly, what do you see as the future for World Wind?

I’d like to see World Wind incorporate a video game engine, as well as provide better delivery of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Hubble imagery. Earth’s connection with the Sun is a very important relationship. A more visual story describing the energy dynamics of the Sun-Earth relationship might inspire a better sense for how special and how fragile life is on this planet. This reminds me of our debt to Jim Gray, an incredible gentleman and brilliant engineer from Microsoft, who provided support that made such a telling difference in this NASA quest for sharing information about our world.