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NASA Wants Your Ideas On How To Be More Inspirational

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
May 22, 2019

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

17 responses to “NASA Wants Your Ideas On How To Be More Inspirational”

  1. TheBrett says:
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    Have them make cool videos highlighting fascinating aspects of missions. Remember the “seven minutes of terror” video for Mars Curiosity’s landing? Stuff like that would be great.

    I don’t think it will really translate into more public support for space exploration when the budget time comes around, but it’s good to have positive feelings in the public regarding it anyways. That can sometimes make a difference when a mission might be potentially on the chopping block.

  2. Michael Spencer says:
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    Some thoughts:

    Keywords: Dreamy. Hopeful. Birthright. Gauze-y.

    Show what life in space will beonce the infrastructure is built.

    We’ve already come so far!

    All Of These Are Yours

    Pictures of every planet as voiceover talks about the solar system being within our grasp. In a very limited way, we already live in space!

    Show it: “A huge infrastructure is already in place, all making our lives, and bank accounts, richer. Now we are ready for the next step. It will be a huge leap: but America and Americans are ready for the commitment.

    Show the incredible role of private industry has helped shape the lives we have. Begin with public/private partnership, esp. with early satellites (as one voice hereabouts correctly and tirelessly champions). Names aren’t needed, but the faces of Mr. Musk, and Mr. Bezos, and so many others are there.

    Do NOT show the “Giant Leap” video. The quality of the video is crap, for one thing. And the gear isn’t shiny! It’s rickety, it looks dangerous, it IS dangerous.

    Explain the dramatic effect of the interstate highway system and how it has made America and Americans stunningly rich (a message the Chinese see quite well). Show – and this will be tricky as it has been so badly done – show how much space already has affected our lives.

    Do not talk about the silly joy rides that yield 5 minutes of weightlessness. Folks will compare the effort and the price with the reward.

    “America is embarking on a hugely glorious journey”

    Don’t be afraid of patriotism. Include our international friends, for certain! But don’t emphasize their importance. Sorry, Canada, Europe, et.al.; just keeping my eye on the prize while recognizing how Americans think. This isn’t international relations; it’s getting sufficient steam behind the project. There’s more love for you guys.

    Don’t emphasize the long-term nature of the effort, but don’t gloss it, either.

    Close with video suggesting a re-wilded planet. Add some of Mr. Bezos slides of O’Neill colonies. Add a voiceover: “This is our future.”

  3. Chris Owen says:
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    Actually sending people out into space (beyond LEO) would be an excellent start!

  4. mfwright says:
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    I have to disagree with this being inspirational. Another variation of “humans on Mars 20 years from now.”

  5. Jeff Greason says:
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    More going, more showing, more deeds, fewer words, less PowerPoint

    And anyone who ever shows another “we have contracts in all 50 states” slide again should never again represent the agency in public. If you can’t think of a reason why people ought to support what you’re doing without ‘jobs for the locals’, you might as well be the Post Office

  6. Tom Perrin says:
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    Wanderers by Erik Wernquist is a favorite of mine. https://vimeo.com/108650530

  7. fcrary says:
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    I’m inclined to agree about NASA’s attitude towards “inspiration.” There may be good ways to do it, but in many NASA programs it leads to a focus on things which are big, spectacular and headline-grabbing. Launching the biggest rocket in the world is headline-grabbing. Doing it only once a year is _good_ since every launch is news and a big publicity event. Launching a smaller rocket every week, and accomplishing the same mission at a fraction of the cost, is not inspiring. It’s boring and repetitive. Robotic planetary missions are often under pressure to rush out press releases with preliminary results, because they feel like they must be a constant source of new discoveries. Solid research which gradually build on past work is dismissed as “incremental.” I suppose, by that logic, walking is an absurd form of transportation, since it is a series of small, unimpressive steps.

  8. Matthew DeLuca says:
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    Easy – just film an American living and working on the moon.

  9. richard_schumacher says:
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    A demonstration of fiscal responsibility and backbone would be inspirational. To that end NASA should tell Senator Shelby that SLS is a stupid waste of time and resources, and NASA won’t do it any more. There’s nothing inspirational about make-work and funneling pork.

  10. David_McEwen says:
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    How to be more inpirational? Actually do something inspiring.

  11. fcrary says:
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    Perhaps a focus on personal involvement would be more useful. It is one thing to tell people that NASA is doing impressive things. But, especially where talking to students and children, I think it’s important to say that _they_ could be a part of that rather than a spectator. The odds of someone growing up to be an astronaut who walks on the Moon or Mars are very low. But the odds of growing up to be one of the people who makes that happen are much greater. I think that would interest and inspire people. The possibility of being a participant rather that someone who just sees it on television or the internet.

  12. Brian_M2525 says:
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    NASA at that time was sponsoring a program in which communications majors at colleges around the country developed public service announcements. “Reach” was done by a young lady from California Art School of Design. The students competed not only to develop inspirational videos but to get them in front of the largest audiences. There were a lot of winning videos each year for several years in a row. Then NASA cancelled the program; they didn’t think it was enough STEM or of educational value. A lot of the other PSAs are on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/res

    • Brian_M2525 says:
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      “The finest thing NASA has ever done” – NO, NASA sponsored the education program that produced it, and later NASA adopted it, but it was not a NASA product.