“If a tree falls in the forest…”

(Reposted from August 13, 2011)

There’s an interesting discussion brewing in NASA’s HQ and around its centers concerning the concept of “indefinite loans” by NASA of aircraft and artifacts for public display.

On the one hand, Logistics Management cites NASA aircraft policy, Federal Property management regulations and NASA regulation 4300.1. They point out that items are supposed to be disposed of when no longer needed operationally. Also, if an item on the books is on indefinite or long-term loan, NASA must not have an operational need for it.

On the other side of the aisle is Public Outreach and center exhibits managers, who cite the Space Act of 1958 and NASA regulation 1387.1. NASA communicators point out the legitimacy of informing the public as one of NASA’s four charted missions. Their position is that long-term and even indefinite loans support their mission and therefore these loaned items still serve an operational purpose.

Although it is truly a tempest in a teapot when we’re wrestling with so many larger issues these days, it does come down to a basic, age-old question: “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it actually fall?”

In other words, if a space mission happened and no one heard about it or learned from it, by how much is the feat diminished? If the answer is “lots,” one could argue that education and public outreach and NASA’s public affairs and communication functions are key NASA operations in their own right and the tools they use (such as static aircraft and artifact loans) have legitimate operational uses, too.

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The Meatball Story

Without argument, THE strongest brand in the U.S. Government is NASA and its logo, affectionately called the “meatball”, have become synonymous with all things space, space exploration, and in general, darings-do.

The main elements in the insignia come from the NASA seal: the circle represents the planets; the stars represents space; the red wing represents NASA’s aeronautics roots and an orbiting spacecraft. It became known as the meatball in 1975. The insignia was used for 16 years, to be replaced in 1975 by a design funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and produced under the Federal Graphics Improvement Program. It was the head of NASA’s technical publications who first nicknamed the “old” design the “meatball” and the new, more modern and sleek one, the “worm.” In 1992, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin declared the worm dead, and what was old became new again.

Today, the NASA meatball insignia remains as one of the strongest and most recognizable logos ever created. Some of it has to do with the fact that it’s (I think) the only logo currently on the moon but it’s become synonymous with NASA’s brand elements of risk taking, success, scientific advancement, and exploration.

If you ever had doubts about the importance of brand, NASA and its “meatball” are worth remembering.

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The Legible City

The Legible City is the developing concept of hard and soft infrastructure in a community that marries emerging technologies with the explosion of newly available data. The amount of data humans are generating is growing 50% each year and that opens up an ever-increasing number of possible applications for it.

The idea kinda started with an interactive exhibit designed by Jeffery Shaw, in 1988. Essentially, Shaw created a cycle spinning program that could take you through a conceptual version of Amsterdam, Karisruhe and Manhattan. In the former, a visitor could bicycle through streets lined with buildings represented by huge text blocks. In the Manhattan version, you could choose one of eight or so routes, or story lines. Location data on the handlebars, enhanced with real monologues by Koch, Trump, taxi drivers and other New York icons, helped convey content.

Part of the concept of a Legible City is the inclusion of large-scale (public viewed) projects to convey data using new technologies to reach the masses. Unlike giant billboards, publicity pieces or Cristo-type art, such items function to convey useful data that adds to people’s lives. This has interesting implications for NASA exhibits and begs the question “Could the street become the new trade show floor or museum gallery?”

Some examples that come to mind: sculptures that convey current global ocean or Arctic temperatures; office buildings flashing massive walls of live Earth images from the ISS or the Curiosity rover; or large count-up clocks that report the current distances from Earth of the Voyager (or Orion!) spacecrafts.

Google “Legible City” to find more about Shaw’s exhibit or check out links to “Bristol Legible City” for more about the concept itself.

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