Center leadership has recently identified what is called a “strategic opportunity”. We, as a center, have the opportunity to help change people’s perception of Langley as well as the Agency as a whole. We need your ideas for how to make NASA cool! Put your ideas here and they will be added to those presented to the Center Leadership Council on October 13.
Thanks
I think one of the biggest things we as NASA can do is to have all NASA employees and contractors make a concerted effort to talk about their work to the public, whether that is to friends and family, or to the person next to them on an airplane, or to crowds of interested people. Sharing our enthusiasm about the work we do at NASA will spread that enthusiasm around.
Chris’ comment is a great start. People get very excited when they meet someone that works at NASA. Sharing the latest NASA.com conceptual video from our laptop, or sharing some of our latest successes or challenges really boosts their attention and gives them a connection to NASA the next time they hear about it in the news.
As a center, we should consider offering a public tour. A daily tour is probably not practical, but maybe a monthly tour that leaves out of the A&S museum?
Hire an advertising agency (like the one I work for) to help increase your image. The tour idea is great. You guys can get some shirts with “NASA 1969″ or “NASA” with “Langley” written below it or on the back and give them away to the public after completing the tour. Visit schools with shirts and pictures signed by astronauts for the kids. I can tell you more but it will cost you.
Cool is in the eye of the beholder. Too make NASA cool in the eyes of an individual, that individual must be inspired by NASA. When individuals are inspired by a person, organization, etc. that person, orgainzation then becomes cool. In the end, NASA must inspire individuals TO GO! Where? you may ask. Well, that’s up to the individual.
Reopen some sort of on-site visitor center. It was “cool” to be able to go on the base and see the large spheres and tunnels while en route to the visitor center. It made one think that “cool” things were going on HERE!
I would offer that we need to make sure the ties to the things NASA is known for (shuttle launches, ISS, Hubble, etc) very clear and easy to understand. If I ask school kids what NASA does I always get an answer about astronauts or space. Space and the shuttle are the most common topics I get asked about by adults too. So let’s latch on to these ideas and have a simple well defined answer of how Langley contributes to these time-and-time-again heard topics.
On a separate thought I wonder if we need to emphasize our history more. Our area is just overflowing with historical significance and Langley only adds to that both in terms of what it brings to the table NACA and NASA wise, and due to the history of the land that Langley sits on. How many people know that the first free school was built on NASA/Air Force land? That one of the first English speaking lawyers had his boyhood home out near the landing dynamics facility and gantry? That we used to launch rockets from here until they moved the capability to Wallops? I, at least, find this history pretty cool and it builds the foundation for the advances in aeronautics and exploration and science that would come in later years.
I like what the previous person posted about the “history” aspect of NASA Langley Research Center. I wholeheartedly agree that we should capitalize on the rich history of this particular NASA center. It ALL started right here in Hampton Roads!
There is a public website for LaRC’s Cultural Resources. It is http://gis.larc.nasa.gov/historic/larc. It not has some history of the Center, it has the history of a lot of the research buildings along with old photos, videos, document collections, and in some cases, virtual tours. This a a project that is currently being worked on so you will see additions to the information throughout the year.
When I was at JPL, NASA had a contest for fun things to do on the shuttle (or something like that). I always thought it would be cool to have fish in space. Design a fish tank (spherical), that works in zero g and see whether the fish orientate themselves to the inside cabin or whether they just swim around upside down, right side up or whatever. It would be a cool thing for the public to see. It involves real things (fish), fish psychology, cool design stuff (how to design a tank for zero g), and fun photos. Might be a mess if it breaks or whatever. This is probably not what you are looking for, but I thought I’d pass it along. I’ll try and think of other things too.
Paul
The current NASA visitor center is called the Virginia Air & Space Center. Many people do not even know it is considered the NASA visitor center, because it is so far detached from NASA Langley. So, here is my wild and crazy idea…
People could begin an extended NASA historic tour at the Virginia Air & Space Center. They would park their cars in the nearby parking garage, go to the Air & Space Museum, and buy a ticket for an “extended” NASA tour. People would be loaded onto a tour boat, and they would travel to a newly built dock right next to the Full Scale Tunnel. A wall would have to be built around this tunnel to prevent tourists from accidentally wandering onto the Air Force Base. Visitors would visit the tunnel, hear a presentation or watch a movie on the history of the tunnel, then they would be guided through an exhibit hall which might even include a full scale NASCAR car, since these cars have been tested in this tunnel. The exhibits in this exhibit hall would changed periodically to draw repeat customers. People would then be loaded onto a tour bus and driven over to NASA Langley. They would visit the water slide to see where the wheels on the Space Shuttle were tested. They would then visit the Gantry where many tests were performed for that first trip to the moon. They would not actually leave the bus but drive by these sites while the tour guide talked about the history. Then, they would visit one of the now defunct wind tunnels at NASA Langley, preferably one with large propellers. People would be ushered into the tunnel to see the massive size of the props while a tour guide explained the significance of the various tunnels, as well as the different types of tunnel present at NASA Langley. After this visit, visitors would return to the bus and drive by the large spheres used to compress air for some of the tunnels, as well as any other interesting or historic sites/buildings. When the tour was complete, people would be returned to the parking lot where they parked their cars. The reason for the boat and bus is threefold: (1) By having all tourists in an enclosed controlled environment (bus, boat, building), this would prevent unauthorized access to sensitive sites on either NASA Langley or Langley AFB, (2) It would eliminate the need for people to get individual visitor’s badges, if they were simply to drive their cars on base, which currently is not allowed by the public anyway, (3) The use of a bus and most especially a boat would make the trip more scenic. One of my coworkers even suggested that the boat could extend the trip by riding near Fort Monroe or the Chamberlain to discuss its rich history. I believe this is a great idea for several reasons: (1)It would increase public awareness of what NASA Langley does, (2)It would rekindle that pride that Hampton Roads once had in NASA Langley, (3)It would increase traffic to the Air & Space Center, (4)It could be incorporated into some sort of Hampton Roads Historic Ticket that included Williamsburg and NASA Langley. There are all sorts of possibilities. It would also help to rebuild that sense of community within Hampton Roads which could come in very handy if those in Washington decided to shutdown NASA Langley because it is so small or deemed unnecessary. (This has been considered in the past.) If Hampton Roads had pride in NASA, they would write their congressman to protest its shutdown. To me, NASA Langley is a unique NASA location, for the primary reason being that NASA Langley (aka NACA) is where ALL of NASA started. If Kennedy can have their fancy visitor center that is rather expensive to visit and is quite successful, why can’t NASA Langley have a fancy tour gig that includes a boat trip, a Full Scale tour, a NASA Langley tour, a walk through a tunnel, and a bus ride? I think it would be a hot ticket for tourists and NASA employees themselves. When family comes to visit a NASA employee, the employee could take the day off and take their visiting family members on this extended NASA tour. So that’s basically my idea…
Hey, didn’t Wilbur and Orville start out with a wild and crazy idea???
this site seems just too scripted for an honest exchange…