Public Reactions / News coverage of Orion

[Kyle]

I was thinking back to Walter Cronkite, and then I thought about of course News coverage and public reactions towards Apollo. I was wondering, what do you think the Public Reactions and Media coverage towards the following events for Orion will be like?

1) First flight of Ares I.

2) The first manned Orion flight.

3) The first flight of the Ares V.

4) The First flyby of the Moon with an Altair and Orion (unmanned)

5) The First Lunar Landing for Orion.

6) The first Manned mars landing.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

I'll sum it all up: *YAWN*
The current media just isn't in love with space, nor is the rest of the public.

 

[ryan]

1) A small slot on the news.
2) A 2 minute slot on the news.
3) Nothing.
4) A 1 minute slot on the news.
5) A whole segment.
6) Around the clock coverage, becuase its never been done, and people want to see something happen.

 

[jinglesassy]

realistic:
1) First flight of Ares I.
1 minute coverage on the news
2) The first manned Orion flight.
1 minute 30 seconds of news
3) The first flight of the Ares V.
5 seconds on the news saying that ares v just launched
4) The First flyby of the Moon with an Altair and Orion (unmanned)
4 minutes
5) The First Lunar Landing for Orion.
5 minutes
6) The first Manned mars landing.
24 hour coverage

wanted:
1) First flight of Ares I.
20 minute coverage
2) The first manned Orion flight.
60 minute coverage
3) The first flight of the Ares V.
10 minute coverage
4) The First flyby of the Moon with an Altair and Orion (unmanned)
24 hour coverage
5) The First Lunar Landing for Orion.
24/7 hour coverage
6) The first Manned mars landing.
24/7 hour coverage

 

[ryan]

5) The First Lunar Landing for Orion.
5 minutes

You would think that when man walks on the moon again it'll take up more than 5 minutes on the news.

 

[jinglesassy]

You would think that when man walks on the moon again it'll take up more than 5 minutes on the news.

it would if it was live but they would probally wait and cut off 95% of it so 5 minutes

 

[Kyle]

They'll give the First moon landing and the mars landing 24 hours around the clock, that I'm pretty sure of.

 

[ijuin]

I think that the manned milestones will get plenty of attention. The first manned flight of Orion would be psychologically comparable to the first manned orbital Shuttle mission, and would probably get newspaper headlines and several minutes in the television news programs.

The unmanned missions, on the other hand, will probably be a big yawn, since the news and the non-space-fans only really care about unmanned missions when new discoveries are being announced (e.g. first photos of Saturn's moons up close by Cassini), not when new hardware has passed a flight test.

 

[ryan]

The unmanned missions, on the other hand, will probably be a big yawn, since the news and the non-space-fans only really care about unmanned missions when new discoveries are being announced (e.g. first photos of Saturn's moons up close by Cassini), not when new hardware has passed a flight test.

And if something goes wrong, either manned or unmanned. Or if something like a toilet breaks.

 

[simonpro]

I think that the manned milestones will get plenty of attention. The first manned flight of Orion would be psychologically comparable to the first manned orbital Shuttle mission, and would probably get newspaper headlines and several minutes in the television news programs.

Orion (or whatever it's called this week) isn't very exciting though. The shuttle is cool and looks like a flying machine. Orion is not cool and looks like a washing machine.
That will have a big impact on media frenzyitis.

 

[ar81]

Media likes flashy fireworks. They like riots, terrorist attacks, international threats, politicians speaking, spacecraft in flames...
They do not give a darn about space exploration.
"Oh yeah, so you launched another sat... so your neighbor painted his house... for sure we will cover it..."

 

[agentgonzo]

You would think that when man walks on the moon again it'll take up more than 5 minutes on the news.

I'd like to think so, but I would very much doubt that it will take up much more than 5 mins. They covered the landing of Apollo 11 live and about half the world stayed up to watch it - and rightly so. But by the latter Apollo missions, the missions weren't televised and not many people watched the landings. It had been done, and they were bored by it. I feel the same apathy will happen when (/if) we return to the moon.

Mars, yes will get live coverage and the world will watch it. I just hope I'm around when it happens (though very much doubt it as I don't think we'll get humans to Mars before 2100 at least)

 

[Kozak]

I have another point of view. Completing such a scaled and ambitious project requires massive funding - that is, massive propaganda (We! The Americans!) will be required to justify such spendings. Consequently, the corresponding news releases will be aired more often than commercials.
Of course, that applies to obviously unique events.

P.S.A little confusion - I was talking of this Orion.

 

[T.Neo]

There will be moderate coverage of such events- even now, I am pleasantly surprised by what little coverage STS gets on international news.

Though I have a strong feeling said events will not happen in that manner.

I might be in an old age home by the time Orion flies...

 

[Moonwalker]

I was wondering, what do you think the Public Reactions and Media coverage towards the following events for Orion will be like?

In the news on German televsion there will be, just as usual, a 20 to 30 seconds commentary with a coverage of the Ares launch in the background. No more, no less within the mainstream TV. There might be a chance that a certain German channel like "Bayerischer Rundfunk" (which is the German channel that shows the most space flight stuff) presents a special broadcast, and that our news channel "N24" might cover the launch live, as they did with the return to flight mission of the Space Shuttle, including the complete ingress and prelaunch. Luckily because of ESA and some German stuff taking place in space flight technology, there is at least some more interest unlike a few decades ago.

But the general public reatcion will be just as incurious as usual when something is presented that is about space flight. Some people even will confuse Orion with the Shuttle just as at present people even confuse the Shuttle with Apollo and think that each time a Shuttle lifts off it is going to the Moon...

Today the target audience of TV basically is ignorant social classes that just like to watch primitive entertainment like Big Brother, american idle, talk shows and so on. Those do not want to see something about science and space flight at all. Most people I talk with in everyday life can't even imagine that the Shuttle or the ISS orbits the Earth ("orbit"?...). They mostly think it is launched straight up and stays above a certain point above the Earth surface all the time. Some even claim that the ISS rotates and so creates gravitation as seen in "Moonraker". Another guy I met once even tried to convince me that the ISS is a secret military project in reality. I could continue but I don't like to.

The wide public is not interested in manned space flight, not even in facts. People like chips, big brother and to lie in the sun. That's it.

 

[Urwumpe]

Unless it explodes. Then you will have a Galileo Special with strange incompetent people trying to find out which else does explode as well and how it is related to Ares.

 

[Kyle]

I was surprised that here in America, they gave a whole segment devoted to Apollo 11's 40th anniversary on the news. Strangely, Fox News is the best when it comes to shuttle coverage too. They have Tom Jones on there and he's pretty good. They covered shuttle events pretty well.

 

[Urwumpe]

They have Tom Jones on there and he's pretty good.

Tom Jones is the best!

 

[reject]

Orion (or whatever it's called this week) isn't very exciting though. The shuttle is cool and looks like a flying machine. Orion is not cool and looks like a washing machine.

I LOLed at this. Very true.