If you've been following Juno's historic launch into Jupiter's orbit, you're not alone: As of this writing, the NASA Juno Mission Control Live stream (aired on July 4, 2016, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.) has amassed almost 11 million views, the mission's Twitter account is at 314,000 followers and Juno's Facebook account grabbed 44,000 viewers for its latest video post.
NASA hasn't just let Juno's myriad array of top-notch content (video, images, an interactive 3D app, behind-the-scenes footage) speak for itself: The agency has given Juno a literal voice by posting to social media in first person.
And yet it moves. What Galileo saw through his telescope, I captured on approach to #Jupiter
— NASA's Juno Mission (@NASAJuno) July 5, 2016
Quoting popular song titles ("Here Comes the Sun") and employing clever wordplay, this endearingly down-to-earth approach continues a trend wherein NASA has given people without a strong science background a chance to get in on the action. A family-friendly segment, Why With Nye, has converted nostalgia for Bill Nye's popular ’90s children's series into an opportunity for today's parents to learn about the mission with their own children.
What can communicators learn from Juno's successful orbit around the public eye? In a word, accessibility. Along with the consideration of multiple demographics in its presentation of content, NASA has mastered successful coordination and cross-promotion on social.
While making excellent use of the public's recent acceptance of live stream into the mainstream, the space agency has been driving traffic to its websites and video streams via coordinated, cross-promoted social media campaigns. Juno's PR and communications teams team kept viewers glued to their screens via regular updates to Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
PR pros should also take note of the smoothly integrated Lockheed Martin branding that made its way into most of the agency's live coverage. The manufacturer and engineering giant was named multiple times in the live streaming event that followed the spacecraft's entrance into orbit, ensuring that Lockheed got both credit for its product and a share in the glory.
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