technology in their own applications."
http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/java/
it is described as an SDK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sdk). I have no
familiarity with it (there are tons of SDKs around). "Doesn't work"
says nothing to someone other than you. "Unable to open it" sounds like
you think it is an end-user application. Does it even provide a
programming GUI, like Visual Studio? If so, and because it is a Java
SDK, do you have Sun Java run-time or SDK installed so you can run
Java-coded programs (which their GUI might use)? Or is it just what it
says it is: an SDK (software development kit)? That could mean all you
get are libraries you can call from your program, so you will have to
write a program that calls those libraries.
If you are having a problem using the SDK to include in your program's
code or there is an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) whose GUI
is not loading, looks like the only available contact is Pat Hogan listed
on their web page. I did not see mention of any forums. If you need
help programming in Java and incorporating NASA's SDK into your Java
program, a more focused Java programming newsgroup would be a better
place to ask for help. A link on their home page directs you to their
online documentation for their SDK, which is at:
http://builds.worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/worldwind-releases/1.2/docs/api/index.html
If instead you are talking about their World Wind app mentioned at
http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/features.html, they have a "Contact Us"
link there along with a link to their forums. I see when you visit that
page that they give you links for forums for both the app and the Java
SDK so whichever you are asking about has forums. You never mentioned
WHICH "World Wind" product you were asking about or if it uses Java or
.NET (http://sourceforge.net/projects/nasa-exp/files/ shows download for
both library types so it could be a problem with your Java or .NET
run-time library installations.
Presumably this app or SDK is going to connect somewhere to retrieve the
image files or geo-imaging data. So if "will not open" is not about a
problem loading the program but in using it to see the images then maybe
the problem is with your network connectivity, blocking of some hosts or
domains by your security software or hosts file, a node in the path
between you and their server is down or unresponsive, or their server is
down or unresponsive. With the dearth of diagnostics info that you have
provided so far, replies are going to be equally vague.
According to http://worldwindcentral.com/wiki/NASA_World_Wind_Download,
they have a "spoon" version (this has you download and run the program
inside a virtualized app environment rather than install on your own
host; see info at http://spoon.net/). They note "(HTTP, requires
browser plugin but has better Vista/7 compatibility)" so it appears
there are known problems with the app under Windows Vista/7 and the
virtualized app is more stable on those platforms.