If you haven’t seen it already, you really should go see astronaut Chris Hadfield’s cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity right after you read this blog. Right now it has over six million views on YouTube. The video got me thinking about ways NASA publicizes its work. Most astronauts have twitter accounts, which they use, there have been several viral videos online, and in one of my favorite stunts, NASA put fake Mars rocks in public places that said “Get Curious” with a QR code that people could scan to learn more about Mars rover Curiosity.
Still, throughout all this, I still get people telling me that NASA is closing, and I had one student who was a Chemistry Major tell me he had no idea that we had an International Space Station. Why? Why don’t people know about what NASA is doing?
There is more work to be done, my fellow Inspirians. At last years Un-Conference, many students said that they wanted to become similar to a NASA ambassador – sharing NASA’s work with others and getting the news out there that NASA still exists and that it’s doing really, really cool things. I’ve come up with a list of 25 things that you can do to help publicize NASA’s work. They range from the simple to the elaborate. The seemingly obvious to the “Well, that’s pretty weird.” Since NASA has already played real life angry birds in space, I figured everything was up for grabs. Please feel free to come up with more ideas in the discussion board!
- Make posters –making posters outlining some of NASA’s current projects is a really simple way to advertise what NASA is doing. You can add QR codes that link to NASA’s website, and ask your school or local library if there is a place where you can hang them up.
- Host a NASA talk– Have a favorite NASA project? Host a lecture at your local library or science center where you make a power point and talk about it, and see if you can get an ad for the talk in your local newspaper.
- Use your school newspaper—If you like to write, write a column about one of NASA’s projects. If you don’t like to write, then stop by your school newspaper to let them know about NASA projects, tweetups, or other events.
- Chalk it up – People use chalk everywhere at my college. Write on the sidewalks using chalk to write down websites, advertise events, or NASA tweet-ups.
- Start a Science/NASA club – Or, join one, if one already exists at your school. Your club can compete in NASA competitions (and get it covered by your school newspaper).
- Host a NASA Astronaut Speaker – This one takes some money. You can let your school, library, or local science center know that you think it would be really cool to have an astronaut come and speak. Many schools/organizations have money set aside for events like these, and if you have a science/NASA club, you can help raise the money!
- Tell schools about NASA Resources – This can be as simple as an e-mail. Let local science teachers know about NASA CORE, which sells NASA materials specifically for teachers. Also let them know about NASA’s Educator website.
- Tell Teachers About Student Opportunities – Again, as simple as an email. Let local teachers know about opportunities that they can pass on to their students.
- Dress Up like a Mars Rover for Halloween – Weird? Maybe. Effective? Yes. Who isn’t going to ask you what you’re dressed up as? What better way to launch into a description of NASA’s research with the Curiosity Rover? Or satellite? Or James Webb Telescope?
- Make a Music Video – Make a parody music video off of a song, related to NASA. Post online. Wait to go viral.
- Make a Video of a Really Cool Experiment – Some of you have already done this. Film your experiments and post them online. At the end, say a quick blurb about how this relates to NASA’s work.
- Make a Video of a Rube Goldberg Machine – I’ve always thought it would be cool to make a really long Rube Goldberg machine, and film it. However many steps you’ve included relate it to NASA. For example, if you included 20, you could have said, “We’re doing this in honor of NASA’s twentieth annual Moon Buggy race.”
- Order a Spinoff—Order a Spinoff magazine (They’re free), and donate them to your school or public library, or science center. Ask them if it can be on display somewhere for a little while.
- Use Facebook or Twitter – If you have a Facebook or Twitter account, post some update whenever NASA is doing something cool. This is a great way to spread the news with your friends and family.
- Start a Blog—Start a NASA blog where you talk about NASA news and events. This is a great place to post pictures if you went to the Un-Conference. Tell your school newspaper about it, they may do a story on you. If you use social media, advertise your blog on there, or ask your friends to advertise your blog for you.
- Use School Projects as an Outlet – When given a choice of subject matter for a school project, consider using NASA as your topic. I’ve made power points, written speeches, and made brochures on NASA for school projects before.
- Word of Mouth – The simplest of all. Talk to people. Let your excitement about NASA show.
- Enter Art/Writing Contests – Are you artistic? Enter some contests, and consider using NASA as an inspiration for your artwork. I’ve written some poems about NASA history, and I know there have been INSPIRE students who have written short stories about NASA. If your school has a literary magazine, submit these to it!
- Tell Teachers about NASA history – In high school, I always let certain teachers know when it was an important day in NASA history. They’re usually really excited to tell students about it.
- Ask me about… Buttons – I was a staff member for our school’s literary magazine. When it came time to sell magazines, we all wore buttons that said, “Ask me about our literary magazine.” EVERYBODY ASKS. Why not wear a button that says, “Ask me about NASA’s Spinoffs” or “Ask me about NASA projects”?
- Wear NASA apparel – Again, really easy. I had a space shuttle necklace, and had a surprising number of people ask me about it. It’s also a really great way to meet other students who are interested in NASA. I met a girl in an elevator who wants to work for NASA just by wearing a Kennedy Space Center T-Shirt.
- Make an info-mercial Video – A lot of these ideas are videos, but that’s because they’re proven to be effective. Make an info-mercial about NASA spinoffs, or a NASA project you’re interested in. Post it online.
- Use Local Astronomy Clubs—Many cities have local astronomy clubs, and they usually hold public telescope viewings. Ask them if they’re hosting any public events in the near future, and ask them if you can hand out brochures or fliers when people come in to the event. If your town has a planetarium, ask them the same thing. If your community has a Young Eagles club, ask if you can do the same thing.
- Make a weather Balloon—I believe I heard from another INSPIRE student that they started a science club at an elementary school and sent off a weather balloon. This is beyond awesome. If you’re up for it – contact an elementary school and ask them if it’s okay if you can help make and launch a weather balloon with/for their students. It’s easy to use this as an opportunity to talk about NASA
- Host NASA themed contests – This is a great way to get people involved with NASA who may not be interested in science. If your school has a science club, host a contest centered around NASA. It can be an art contest, a writing contest, a video contest, a musical score contest. Make the topic something like, “The Future of Space Exploration,” and ask that the entries be displayed somewhere in the school. If you’re homeschooled, try doing this at your local library.
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