Hi all -

Just a quick drive-by from this particular shuttle hugger out of the realm of LEO fun to say that - as an owner of a site - it is the ultimate motivation to have the support of one's readership, as Doug clearly has here.

Having met Doug, I know you've got a great guy at the helm, who clearly knows his subject matter to a highly impressive level, with bundles of enthusiasm, both of which are absolutely required for translating the qualities of space flight to the visitors of the site.

The only factors that require mitigation are the costs that come via a site's popularity. We're going through $2,000 a month on server and hosting costs, for example, and given the way the forum format works via a database, UMSF's wish for a dedicated server set-up is essential for smooth running and avoidance of periodic downtime.

So I'm very happy to help Doug and UMSF via what we've set up, and hats off to you all that have helped this site so far, and we'll look forward to working together on sending our readership this way on upcoming planetary missions, seen as we are more about pre-launch and launch coverage for unmanned missions, before all going home after spacecraft separation

Best,
Chris Bergin
Owner, Managing Editor
www.nasaspaceflight.com

PS Sorry about our wonderful Shuttles eating up NASA's budget