NASA’s Social Media Skills Are Out Of This World

Valerie Hoke
November 17, 2016
Categories

Space!

The final frontier.

These are the voyages of the Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts (including NASA’s Peggy Whitson) to the International Space Station (ISS) this afternoon.

It’s true: At 3:20 p.m. EST today, Expedition 50/51, which consists of a trio of astronauts representing Russia’s Roscosmos, the European Space Agency and our very own NASA, will launch away from our lovely little planet.

This isn’t a rare occasion or anything — these days, the ISS gets new visitors every six months or so. But I’m just using the launch as an excuse to talk about something that’s always on my mind: How freakin’ great NASA is at social media.

The space agency has invigorated and enthused a new generation about space travel at a time when those in power (ahem, Congress… ) are not doing a very good job of advancing it.

Wondering when the Mars colony will be ready? Here are five social accounts (besides NASA’s Instagram, because who doesn’t follow that?) you should be following.

Peggy Whitson on Twitter

Hello, she’s about to launch to freaking outer space! Why wouldn’t you want to follow her adventure?

In addition to updates about her mission training, Whitson is singlehandedly responsible for creating an educational hashtag campaign on her own account. #NASAVillage, which has been an active hashtag for more than a year, sets out to prove that while astronauts serve as humankind’s space explorers, it takes a village to get them up there. Whitson’s tweets under the hashtag highlight the researchers, medical experts, technicians, administrative workers and all those who quite literally make spaceflight possible.

NASA on Tumblr

Recently, NASA decided to meet the cool kids where the cool kids live: Tumblr.

Rather than maintaining a Tumblr just for the heck of it, which happens all too often, NASA actually uses the platform to post longer, blog-like content that isn’t merely a repetition of their posts on Facebook and Twitter.

Posts like the photo scrapbook of a recently returned-to-Earth astronaut and collections of fascinating facts rich with photos and GIFs ensure that NASA’s Tumblr content isn’t just broadcasted into an internet black hole — it’s absorbed and shared as true storytelling.

Bonus: Astronaut Peggy Whitson also has her own Tumblr account, where she recently participated in a Tumblr Answer Time session.

https://astropeggy.tumblr.com/post/132085433728/i-am-excited-to-be-hosting-my-first-ever-tumblr

Curiosity Rover

This Mars rover has an attitude, y’all.

Since landing on our friendly red neighbor in 2012, Curiosity has been tweeting up a storm of mission updates and sassy salutations while exploring the planet’s surface.

NASA’s decision to personify their rover on Twitter as a means of sharing new, beautiful pictures of Martian landscapes might just be the best thing they’ve ever done. (Besides, you know, putting humans on the moon.)

Plus, Curiosity is proof that a couple of years away from Earth doesn’t make you illiterate in good ol’ web lingo.

(Sidenote: I think Curiosity and Mr. Trash Wheel would get along well.)

NASA on Snapchat

If you’re not following NASA on Snapchat, you are seriously missing out.

Hardly a day goes by where the agency’s Snapchat story isn’t populated with interviews with scientists, behind-the-scenes looks at space equipment or Snapchat takeovers from actual outer space.

Earlier in the year, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra gave Snapchat followers a firsthand look at life aboard the ISS. That’s not your usual Sunday morning brunch snap.

If Instagram Stories are more your thing, you’re in luck: Everything that gets snapped get ‘grammed as well.

Robonaut on Twitter

Meet Robonaut: NASA’s resident humanoid robot. It (I’m being gender neutral, okay?) resides on the ISS, but it has a twin who it lovingly refers to as its sibling.

Go follow a cool robot. Do it.

Do you have a favorite NASA account we missed? Let us know!

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