NASA Needs To Retune Its Message

NASA’s vision lost on Web generation, AP

“NASA’s new vision of sending astronauts back to the moon by 2017 and eventually on to Mars, recent surveys show. Concerned about this lack of interest, NASA’s image-makers are taking a hard look at how to win over the young generation — media-saturated teens and 20-somethings growing up on YouTube and Google and largely indifferent to manned space flight.”

Observations from the Second Space Exploration Conference: Listening to the Next Generation

“Keeping the past achievements of NASA in mind as we return to the Moon is important, but it should not define the agency as it is currently doing. To attract the future generation of explorers, NASA needs to establish itself as the agency of the future, not the agency of the past. A return to the Moon is merely the stepping stone necessary to set foot on Mars and beyond, but advertisements would have the audience think the return to the Moon is the main goal of the VSE.”

Reader note: A cute webcomic on YouTube Moon landing comments you might appreciate:http://xkcd.com/c202.html