Congress finally struck a deal to end the government shutdown on Wednesday night, after weeks of bitter partisan bickering. This means hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal employees are returning to work on Thursday.
But even before NASA got its website back up and running (many federal agencies' websites were inactive during the shutdown), the agency broke its 16-day silence on Twitter -- and was met by a collective cheer.
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We're back and in the process of turning things back on! http://t.co/IpvHUzr4tm and #NASA TV will be up as soon as possible!— NASA (@NASA) October 17, 2013
During NASA's absence, a group of space enthusiasts organized a campaign to keep the space information flowing by posting to various social networks using #ThingsNASAMightTweet.
Here's how the science-minded community welcomed NASA back.
As much as I enjoyed #ThingsNASAMightTweet I enjoy #WelcomeBackNASA MUCH MUCH more! #NASA— Alex Autin (@AlexAAutin) October 17, 2013
Welcome back @NASA! Back to work! Let's make science! #ThingsNASAMightTweet— Penn State Science (@PSUScience) October 17, 2013
Their efforts during the shutdown did not go unnoticed by NASA.
Good morning. Thanks for all the support from #ThingsNASAMightTweet while we were gone. We missed you!— NASA_Langley (@NASA_Langley) October 17, 2013
The chart below shows the emergence of the hashtag after the government shutdown began on Oct. 1.
Veronica McGregor, a media relations manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, also expressed gratitude to this community.
@VeronicaMcG @smith5se Agreed! #ThingsNASAMightTweet was EPIC!— NASA Goddard (@NASAGoddard) October 17, 2013
Angela Gibson, an educator who lives near Norfolk, Va., helped organize #ThingsNASAMightTweet.
"We have seen an outpouring of gratitude from various NASA accounts and individuals at NASA," Gibson told Mashable.
Gibson said the "small group of very dedicated space tweeps" that coordinated the effort plan to retire the hashtag after a space Q&A on Twitter Thursday night.
While it may have taken a bit longer than some other federal agencies, NASA's website became fully functional again late Thursday morning.
It's not just the organizers of #ThingsNASAMightTweet who are glad NASA is back, though. One of the most famous fictional space explorers of all time, Star Trek's Captain James T. Kirk, shares their sentiments.
@NASA You are coming back! I'm all excited! ;-)— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) October 17, 2013
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Image: NASA via Getty Images
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