Jonathan Salem Baskin, Contributor
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7/01/2013 @ 9:20AM |2,939 views
The Revolution In Space Exploration Will Be Televised
(Photo credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video)
When I wrote last December that NASA needed a new narrative for communicating the value of space exploration, the comments I got back ranged from “you don’t understand how NASA works,” to “anyway, it’s impossible” (with a few notable and very encouraging exceptions).
I was wrong, or maybe the last six months just changed the game. But the space exploration meme is coming back in ways we’ve haven’t seen since the 1960s, and with it come opportunities for corporate sponsorship, educational tie-ins, potential jobs for kids who would like to work “out there” someday, and a return of a sense of national purpose that everyone might appreciate.
Gone are the days of Shuttle launches barely making mention on the evening news or, worse, only drawing our attention when something went wrong. The revolution in space exploration is being “televised” (i.e. seen), thanks to such facts as:
NASA got the memo. You realize that most of us know more about the first 18 months of the MarsCuriosity mission than we do about the last 20 years of NASA activities? That’s because the agency has chucked its penchant for overly-technical announcements and sonorous epistles on the wonders of space, and instead gives us a really compelling, ongoing narrative replete with challenges, accomplishments, and events that seem like chapters in an adventure story. Its homepage is lightyears different (and better) than anything NASA has ever done in the past.
That’s not all. It’s embracing social conversation, having recently hosted a Google GOOG +0.3%+ Hangout to talk about mining asteroids, rolling out projects that seem like sci-fi scripts (such as its work with the Europeans to search for dark energy), and breaking the chains of bureaucracy to talk boldly and publicly about a manned mission to Mars (accessible via smartphone and table apps).
There’s a long way to go, especially in light of our Federal budget woes, but I’m guardedly hopeful that the space agency is doing exactly what it should be doing: Promoting smart, compelling basic science that literally paves the way for others to follow.
Industry is stepping up. NASA contractors and suppliers have upped the ante on communications with things like The Coalition for Space Exploration’s national video contest that asked for UGC on “why space matters to the future” (here’sthe winner). The Aerospace Industries Association crowdfunded a trailer called “We Must Go” that ran at the premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness and then on 400 more screens across the country (remember that many Apollo-era engineers credited Star Trekwith inspiring them to pursue careers in the space program). Every program seems to be supported with Facebook FB +0.39%, Twitter, and other tech tools to give people multiple opportunities to engage.
Private initiatives are also contributing marvelous content to the emergent narrative, from SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft ferrying supplies to theInternational Space Station (Blue Origin is testing something similar), to Bigelow Aerospaceannouncing inflatable habitats for use in orbit or on the Moon. Virgin Galactic has already sold 600 reservations at $200,000/ea. to take tourists into sub-orbit, and Orbital Sciences has been launching satellites for decades. These initiatives harken back to the days of privateers and investor-financed exploration of the New World. Their activities not only give more people a chance to be directly involved with their endeavors, but those actions are eminently visual and will only increase in watchability as the programs progress.
The story belongs to The People. Last week, a space entertainment production company called Orion Era announced that its first project will be a show about the latest group of astronaut candidates as they work their way through training, entitled Astronaut Candidates (Full disclosure: I’ve gotten involved since my essay as an unpaid advisor). It’s a “reality show” only it’s not focused on setting up characters who can’t deal with reality, but insteadsharing a narrative about how these overachievers go about changing and improving it.
Individual enthusiasts are telling the same stories on the Internet, producing rich, smart video, audio, and textual content. Sawyer Rosenstein is editor and host of Talking Space, and posts regularly about what’s going on via thewebsite and Twitter. A quick search on YouTube reveals literally hundreds of thousands of hits, many of them videos produced by people who simply want to help tell the story. Reid Gower’s The Sagan Series is impassioned, high-quality content that is a joy to watch. Maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t it seem like there are lot of sci-fi movies about outer space coming out of Hollywood these days (wiki says there’ve been more lately than in the last few years)? If I’m right, it’s because there’s a fertile if not growing audience for the stuff.
The very premise that space exploration could be entertaining is itself an indication of how times are changing. It’s also a potential tipping point; once the story of space exploration migrates from the screens of the individuals directly involved to become everyday viewing for the rest of us, the space meme will have taken on new meaning. The we who do it will become all of us, because what America does in space will matter to everyone. It’s downright freaky to consider that this year’s astronaut candidates could be the first humans to harvest an asteroid, or touch the dust of Mars. They are a window into what could be a new era, not just in the history of our country, but of the planet.
The sociology behind this revolution is fascinating to me. While NASA is contributing some directionally-relevant content, the phenomenon is really distributed and grassroots. Loyalists are finding other loyalists and stepping up, and it reminds me of the way people got one another excited during the Apollo Era.
As a marketer, there are lessons to be learned from the ways these disparate parties organize and collaborate with shared purpose (imagine if a wide variety of interested groups cared that much about your approach to selling insurance, or an energy company’s long-term plan?). There are also hints to be gleaned about trends, and how they are sustained on social media platforms. Since there’s no official “glue” holding these various activities together, they run the constant risk of losing any connective power. It’ll be a trend until it’s no longer one.
It just might be possible that brands will step in and help nudge the phenomenon along. Could brands want to be associated with outer space again, from sponsorship of specific activities to simply using the meme as a creative element in marketing content? There was a time when images like sleek rockets and space helmets were cool. It could happen again.
What’s most interesting is that after decades of being ignored, we will witness — and many of us will participate in — what happens next in space exploration, thanks in large part to the efforts of inspired individuals and interested organizations to create and share compelling content.
The revolution will be televised.
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