I had successfully avoided checking out NASA's in depth "multimedia feature" celebrating their 50th anniversary since they launched it earlier this month. But today when their promo featured Astronaut Snoopy-- my Achilles heel-- I caved.
Adobe awarded them "Site of the Day" August 18th, but could it stand up to Wired Science scrutiny?
The feature is divided up by decade and you default to the 1950's with the jukebox playing and everything in back and white. I jumped to the 1960's to look for Snoopy and was rewarded with the seven original cartoons that Charles Shultz ran in March 1969 when Snoopy became the first beagle on the Moon. The 60's have vinyl playing in the background and if you don't like the song that is on just fast forward to a better track. They have the Stones, Jefferson Airplane, and The Mamas & the Papas to name a few. Don't miss Cronkite's recollecting of Apollo 11 -- it's worth getting choked up over.
The 70's move onto 8-tracks of ABBA, Aerosmith, and Pink Floyd (go
NASA). There is an avatar of Carl Sagan that talks about the great
Voyager missions and while he may look stiff the authentic Sagan audio
track is as melodic and entrancing as ever.
In the 80's there are some great moments, like a tribute to Sally
Ride, the first American woman in space. The footage is all original
from 1983 with the original voice overs too. It is wonderful to see
history in its original context and not skewed through the lens of
current events. Each decade features a theater of such gems. It's a lot
of fun for those of us who were not there to see and I am sure a
nostalgic romp for those who were. Michael Jackson's Thriller is
included in the cassette soundtrack along with The Breakfast Club
favorite, "Don't You Forget About Me."
The 90's jump to CD's of Lenny Kravitz and Pearl Jam. The DJ's of NASA's virtual radio station spice up the intros to most songs with sound bites about the decades current events and NASA news. For a Twitter-length attention span it is a great way to get people to learn about NASA's past achievements as they bee bop through the landscape.
The 2000's finish with an iPod of Green Day, Nelly Furtado and the Foo Fighters. Although none of the other rockets take you anywhere, I do recommend the big finish of clicking on the Ares I rocket, if only to see the cool bubble city at the lunar south pole. I think that is one of the things missing in NASA's visions of the future-- not enough bubble cities.
So I can't say I am the biggest fan of Automa, the robotic tour guide, and the feature reminds me a lot of a website where you regret clicking the less desirable links, but all in all you can see that a lot must have gone into making it and that they actually had someone with an ear for music involved too, which I can always appreciate. So jump in, check it out, you might even come out with some great Snoopy cartoons you can hang in your cubicle.
See Also:
- NASA: The Next 50 Years
- Google CEO Celebrate's NASA's 50th, Offers Advice
- NASA's In Your Frozen Chicken
Image courtesy NASA
EDITOR: Betsy Mason | 
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