Photo: Space shuttle Endeavor launches on the STS-134 mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA
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This might have been the last launch of Space Shuttle Endeavor, but it wasn’t the first time that NASA has used online video to broadcast a space shuttle launch to the world.
NASA streams video of NASA TV online for anyone to watch (even those who don’t have the channel from their cable or satellite provider). This enables better access to more citizens and let’s people have more of an “insider’s view” of the government agency that they might not otherwise interact with. Another benefit is simply from the PR side: it helps promote their brand among citizens.
Here is video from this morning’s launch of STS-134. NASA quickly posted this archived video online for those who missed the live event or wanted to watch a replay.
This goes along with an article that was highlighted in Friday’s Open Government Links of the Week post:
Making important agency information easy to find online can also be a key factor in improving the agency’s public image, said General Services Administration digital government specialist Sheila Campbell. (from the article “Open government requires accessibility, not just data, specialists say” on nextgov.com)
A similar version of this was originally posted at the company that I work for’s product blog (Disclosure: the product deals w/ transparency, gov’t, & technology)
I love that NASA TV (or some variation of it) is also available on Roku. NASA’s presence is, well, universal!
Andrew, that NASA pun was out of this world. Look, I had to say it… 🙂