Phoenix Outreach, ... or "That's the way to do it..." Options

[Stu]

I have a sneaking suspicion that more than a few of the various Phoenix teams lurk here... and are probably reading these very pages right now when they really, really should be DOING SOME WORK!!! ... so I just wanted to point out what a superb job they've done and are still doing as far as Outreach is concerned. The quality of the animations and graphics, so soon into the mission, is simply outstanding, and the speed with which the raw images are posted is obviously great for all us armchair image manipulators, but it's also great for the public too, because we can point them towards the Phoenix websites and tell them, truthfully, that all they want to know about the mission is there for them to read, put in simple and understandable terms. There are also postcards and posters to download.

A special - and IMHO - long overdue congratulations has to go to Veronica McGregor, who we have often seen during NASA TV coverage of Phoenix press briefings. For those who don't know, Veronica is behind the Phoenix Twitter page, which now has over 18,000 (18,000!!!!) followers. When I say "behind", I mean, of course, that she is in contact with the probe itself, and takes the time to send it questions and write up its responses in "Twitter-ese"; the New York Times erroneously reported that Veronica actually writes the Twitter entries, and not Phoenix itself. Now there's "inaccuracy in reporting astronomy" for you...

Having said that, I am less than convinced that "Steve The Cat" was a good idea. The idea is fun, and the site itself is too, but... well... a cat? Stuck on Mars? ( For those who don't know, Phoenix has a stowaway, in the form of a cat called Steve. Steve is living inside Phoenix as it explores the martian arctic, and has even sent back a message for his followers and supporters here on Earth.) I mentioned this idea once during a pre-landing Outreach talk. Once. Never again. I could see small children getting visibly upset at the idea of a poor liddle puddy cat stranded on Mars... I have just seen that Steve actually has a way of getting back to Earth, so maybe there's been a bit of a re-think about the first cat-o-naut on Mars somewhere! And if Phoenix does find evidence of life on Mars, I'm not sure how they're going to be sure it's native martian life when this was allowed to happen...

Seriously tho, the Outreach support for this mission is great. I gave my first post-landing Phoenix public Outreach talk last Saturday morning here in Kendal, at the town's museum, and thanks to the Phoenix Outreach team I was able to hand out free Phoenix stickers to the 20 or so people who came along to see the first Phoenix images and hear all about the mission. I was also able to give them a long list of website addresses to keep an eye on after the talk.

Great work guys, keep it up!

[aggieastronaut]

I was given the reason that Phoenix was an "inanimate object" therefore it violated their policy that Facebook profiles are for humans only. I do say though, Phoenix is anything but inanimate!

And a Spacebook would be awesome!

[Stu]

I was given the reason that Phoenix was an "inanimate object" therefore it violated their policy that Facebook profiles are for humans only. I do say though, Phoenix is anything but inanimate!

Stupid stupid stupid. And inconsistent too. LCROSS, Hubble and New Horizons all have Profiles? Why has Phoenix been picked out as being an "inanimate object"? Truth be told, half the people I know on Facebook would qualify as "inanimate objects" ;-)

I've just signed up to be a Friend of the "Challenger Center", too. Is that an animate object?

Maybe we should suggest to Google - a space mad company if ever there was one - that a "Spacebook" would be a good idea...

[djellison]

To be fair - I can sort of see facebooks point.

'The Chris Moyles Show' is far from inanimate - but you don't become a friend of a pretend person - you can become a fan of it. That would seem a more appropriate methodology of affiliation for people wanting to show their support of, and get news about spacecraft.

Just my 2p's worth.

Doug

[aggieastronaut]

As far as I know, Hubble, Webb, MER (also run by me), LRO, LCROSS, Xmm-Newton, Snap, Swift, Messenger, New Horizons, Fermi, Glory, Kepler, Aura, ATV, SDO, SDO's HMI, and probably more have profiles. And yes, it'd make more sense for them as pages, but when I started MER's, pages didn't exist.

And I liked using profiles because you could give them a personality and interact with people better. Take, for example, my interview here where I'm Phoenix (http://neuralgourmet.com/2008/07/27/phoenix-lander-interview-part-1/)

[Stu]

Another good piece on the mega-successful Twittering of our favourite polar probe...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...Technology/home

[Astro0]

And another nice article relating to the success of the Public Outreach efforts on Phoenix.
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/267531

[aggieastronaut]

Since probably most of you can't see the comments on Facebook, I'll pass along my favorites after announcing Phoenix's end.

"I wish there was a Salvation Army there, so you could get some scarves and thermal underwear."

"I volunteer to go up and bring a large bag of Sterno. I'll put them all around and under you, it will help keep you warm. I'll drink hot chocolate and sing you songs. Then we can celebrate Spring, (maybe a little dance?) and I'll come home, and you can get back to your adventurous work. ok??"

"choose life! "

"RIP Pheonix. Well done, probie. Well done."

"that'll do Phoenix Lander. that'll do."

"Fare the 6-month winter well, young lander. We all hope to hear from you when sunlight once again fills your solar tummy."


Oh, and relatively soon there should be an article on MER's Facebook/Twitter!

[Stu]

Very good piece here on the success of Phoenix's Twittering...

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081...nix-lander.html

[ConyHigh]

Very good piece here on the success of Phoenix's Twittering...

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081...nix-lander.html

This was all about the Twitterer. She did a good job, but....

[Stu]

um... but what..?

The Phoenix Twittering literally revolutionised the way NASA covers its space missions, breathed new life into it I'd say, and set a very high standard of Outreach for future missions - of all agencies - to aim for. Thanks to the Twittering tens of thousands of people (and I'd think probably hundreds of thousands) felt involved personally in the mission, and were able to connect with it, its scientists and its goals in a way never seen before. She did a great job, I'd say.

[ArtandSpace]

Agree with Stu 100%. It was innovative , progressive and somewhat risky for NASA to try Twitter and it worked beautifully! Maybe we'll get live video on our cell phones on the next mission!

Art

Commercial link removed - Admin.

[Stu]

BIG congratulations to JPL's (and our!) Veronica McGregor for winning a "Shorty" award for Twittering the Phoenix mission! (scroll down to the 'Science' category)

1000% deserved, and proof that the reporting of space missions will never be the same again!

[nprev]

Heyyyy! Well deserved indeed, Veronica, and thank you! I hope that your boss takes appropriate notice!

[aggieastronaut]

So, then, why dont we create Spacebook?

It seesm we've been beaten on this idea: http://fcw.com/Articles/2009/02/09/Web-2.0...ng-a-while.aspx

If only it wasn't for employees only!

[Stu]

Some thoughts on the rising influence of Twitter and what I like to call the new "Mouse Media"...

http://cumbriansky.wordpress.com/2009/02/1...eeks-and-tweets