NASA Advisory Council Recommendation 

Public Outreach for Commercial Activities 

2011-01-01 (CSC-Ol) 

Recommendation: The Council recommends that NASA encourage existing Commercial 

Orbital Transportation Services contractors to work with NASA's Office ofCommunications to 

integrate public outreach into mission planning and operations. The Council also recommends 

that NASA's Office ofCommunications draft a recommended commercial partner public 

outreach and participatory exploration policy (including contingency media/communications 

plans) to serve as a guideline when developing future partner agreements. 

Major Reasons for the Recommendation: Current Commercial Orbital Transportation 

Services contracts between NASA and private sector space entities do not include any guidelines 

to insure reasonable public access to mission activities. The Space Act of 1958 requires NASA 

to "provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination ofinformation concerning 

its activities and the results thereof." Public participation in space exploration remains a NASA 

priority to insure continued funding, recruit talent and inspire interest in Science, Technology, 

Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Therefore, it is in the mutual interest ofthe 

space agency and its commercial partners to ensure the public is granted a "front row seat" to 

future missions, providing such access is legal and does not compromise the intellectual property 

rights ofthe commercial entity, or unnecessarily divert resources away from higher priority 

mission activities. 

Consequences of No Action on the Recommendation: NASA may not be able to effectively 

"provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination ofinformation concerning its 

activities and the results thereof" as required by the Space Act of 1958. 

NASA Response: NASA concurs with the recommendation. Immediately following the release 

ofthe Fiscal Year 2011 budget, the Office ofCommunications reached out to the new generation 

of commercial space providers to begin a coordinated effort to integrate their public outreach 

activities into a broader story, spotlighting the importance ofthis new space economy in the 

future of exploration. These ongoing discussions are now resulting in a much more open, 

transparent, and positive working relationship between all parties. Specific examples include 

live and extended media events with rocket engine tests for Orbital at Stennis Space Center in 

Mississippi. In the past, Orbital would take days or weeks to release images and information 

regarding any hardware tests. Now, media is encouraged to attend live engine firing tests in 

support ofthe Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and other commercial 

spaceflight activities. Perhaps the greatest strides made in the Government/commercial 

relationship is with SpaceX. The Office of Communications initiated discussions with new 

SpaceX communications personnel to collaborate on mission coverage ofits historic 

Enclosure 1 
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Falcon 9 launch and Dragon capsule splashdown. NASA Television was provided access to the 

launch, which was carried live on both satellite systems and streamed on http://www.nasa.gov. 

Since this launch was a COTS demonstration flight, NASA was able to convince SpaceX to 

provide media access to the vehicle on L-I, have company leadership participate in preflight 

briefings, and after the successful launch, founder Elon Musk personally participated on the postlaunch news conference. Since then, we have established more direct communications with 

Orbital, provided extended coverage and access to its new mission control center in Virginia, and 

helped provide media access to hardware for its Taurus II launch vehicle for the Commercial 

Crew Development 2 announcement, the Office of Communications coordinated a media event 

for the companies awarded a Space Act Agreement as part ofthe preflight briefings at the 

upcoming Space Shuttle launch (STS-134). We are dedicated to providing greater public 

access to these new commercial partners while at the same time protecting their intellectual 

property rights. Also, there is a new Public Engagement Web site, scheduled to be launched in 

the fall, that will help illustrate public outreach activities for our new commercial partners.