for any #NASA folks still monitoring the #NASAsocial hashtag, please please PLEASE:

– make it SOP to put up a super simple straightforward one-page mission timeline that has every significant mission event with a built-in TZ converter so folks playing along at home can set their local time zone & get accurate updated timings 🙏

– make it as low-tech as you can – mostly text, minimal “fancy” crap (JS, WebGL, user-tracking frameworks 🤮, etc.)

– link to it prominently at / near the top of the mission homepage, maybe with a handy “Next up: $MissionEventName” label as well

– publish an iCal feed that folks can either subscribe to or download^

– update the timings as they slip or advance as best you can (and have a single source of truth that’s used to update both the mission timings page & the iCal feed, obvs.)

– yes, I’m def open to a fully-remote position on your #SciComms team so long as I can mostly work UTC+10ish-friendly hours 😜

#kthxbai
 
 
 
^ and then also maintain a canonical page with all your mission iCal feeds in one place – something like nasa[.]gov/SpaceNerds/MissionData/feeds/iCal/ would be appropriate 😜

Space News

Hearing about the sad loss of contact with the MAVEN spacecraft reminded me that following my visit to KSC to see the launch, I made a 45 minute video about my amazing experience.

Meeting such an amazing group of space enthusiasts was something that evoked an emotion that has never left me, and I will be with me for the rest of my life. You feel passion, joy and a very strong bond with these people.

If you have 45 minutes free, I invite you to watch "What is a NASA Social", by me G7IZU. Throughout the video I insert tweets from the group as they occurred in "realtime". For non-UK viewers, the occasional appearance of a small yellow stuffed bear is related to a live charity TV programme made every November by my employer (BBC) called Children In Need. The bear, Pudsey, is its mascot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur6-6dWRgEQ

#nasasocial
#nasa
#maven
#childreninneed
#pudsey
#g7izu