Show and Tell the Tether
Stephen Thompson (SThompson@esiusa.com)
Wed, 28 Feb 96 11:34:00 PST
This morning I heard two references to the visibility of the tether on
national radio. NPR carried a sound bite from one of the astronauts saying
how cool it would look and Paul Harvey made a similar comment and even
mentioned a three minute visibility window in the early morning next
weekend. This is a great opportunity to encourage the general public to
experience the space program directly since there will probably be more
press coverage over the next week.
I have been quite successful locally at promoting the visibility of Mir and
the Shuttle by faxing predictions to radio and TV weather reporters and the
local desk of the daily paper. I use a one page format that looks like a
press release and contains simplified instructions on how to see the object
and what to expect. I say things like "Go out at 6:55 on Friday night and
look overhead for a bright 'star' moving from northwest to southeast." The
paper usually prints my words exactly. The TV weather guys try hard but do
well to read the time accurately. Even so. I frequently run into people who
have seen Mir and the Shuttle and tell me about hearing about it on the
radio etc.
Most of all, I take care to only announce good viewing opportunities so as
to not frustrate first timers.