Space TV and other Media
I’ve conjured a memory — a television backdrop showing a drifting moonscape seen from Apollo 8 as the astronauts read from Genesis. It is a memory etched in my mind from 42 years ago sending shivers up my spine even now. More than video or the words themselves it was the importance of the moment hitting me. Borman, Lovell and Anders could have read aloud from the Bhagavad Gita and it wouldn’t have mattered.
Earthrise – Seen from Apollo 8 – December, 1968
Video can be an important means of conveying historic events like this. Yet I was equally spellbound by audio during the Apollo 11 landing with no video feed until Neil headed out onto the ladder.
During Apollo 12, the camera lasted less than an hour (burned out when pointed at the sun). So we never got to see Conrad and Bean scampering to visit the Surveyor lander in real time. Was this a great loss from a PR standpoint? This being the second mission to the moon — not really. From a science or mission ops standpoint? Not in any way I can see.
This morning Tom Stafford (Apollo 10) described watching the Earth coming into view above the lunar surface every 2 hours, and to make his point he reminded us of the famous ‘Earthrise’ photo by Bill Anders from aboard Apollo 8. There is a movie of this as well. Yet the Hasselblad still camera photo is by far the more famous image. If a TV camera had been used instead, perhaps -that- would have etched the strongest reactions.
Instead, we are left with an enduring photo speaking across the generations.
General Thomas P. Stafford (right) – June 21, 2010
Listening to Neil stepping from the lander without video would have likely been an equally riveting moment. For truly momentous events I’ll take anything I can get. Mere news-flash reporting of Charles Lindbergh’s flight created deep impressions in that generation. Only later was any of this shown in newsreels.
The media is secondary to the event itself — hence the yawning over NASA TV 99% of the time.
Whether people bother to experience media of astronauts in space depends on audience interest level — and that is rooted in the caliber of the event itself.
If the event is important enough we will imprint unforgettable memories. If not — no matter how well transmitted — we will yawn if we notice anything at all.
