NASA Scores Major Social/PR Win With Mars Landing

For those of you keeping score, NASA not only landed a direct hit on the planet Mars early this morning, they also landed a huge PR win via social media.

According to my data; in the last 24 hours, conversation about NASA has jumped over 350% thanks to smart tweeting by NASA’s social media manager, Veronica McGregor and, surprisingly also by JPL’s flight director Bobak Ferdowsi.

McGregor, no stranger to the social media limelight, lit up Twitter with the amazing personality she powered up for the mission’s official Twitter handle, @MarsCuriosity:



It once was one small step… now it’s six big wheels. Here’s a look at one of them on the soil of Mars # MSL twitter.com/MarsCuriosity/… — Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 6, 2012

Meanwhile, Ferdowsi himself became an instant celebrity adding more than 20K followers since the start of this morning’s live stream. Perhaps not intentionally, Ferdowsi became the face of the new, modern NASA with his stylish haircut and {achem} dreamy smile.

He even managed to inspire his own internet meme and fangirl/fanboy tumblr:

Maybe I’m just a huge geek but I can’t help but feel really inspired by not only the mission but the smart risks and new energy being brought to NASA PR. Congrats to Veronica McGregor, Bobak Ferdowsi and the entire NASA-JPL team!

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