The Original "Voice of the Astronauts" - John "Shorty" Powers

John "Shorty" Powers, the "voice of the Astronauts," sits between John Glenn and Alan Shepard during a press conference interview with the first American in space (Shepard) and the first American to orbit the Earth (Glenn).

John Anthony Powers (August 22, 1922–December 31, 1979), better known to the world as John "Shorty" Powers, was an American public affairs officer for NASA from 1959 to 1963 during Project Mercury. Shorty was on loan to NASA from the US Air Force. As the public affairs officer working with the original Mercury 7 astronauts, Shorty became known as the "voice of the astronauts," the "voice of Mercury Control," and, much to NASA chagrin, the "eighth astronaut." Shorty became famous for coining the phrase "A-OK," and for having more of a promotional bent to his style than a more brand journalism approach that NASA HQ desired. Most impressive to those who haven't heard his voice, is that Shorty Powers had the voice that one would EXPECT in the role....almost completely out of central casting! Listen to the clip below of a promotional recording made after Shorty left NASA. His deep timber voice will be familiar to all those who listened to the earliest US manned space launches!

LM Decent Engine in David's living room

Marketing the Moon co-author David Meerman Scott collects hardware used in the Apollo missions, which he displays on his Apollo Artifacts site. He is likely the only person in the world with a lunar module descent engine thrust chamber in his living room! Not bad considering there is one on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

This model of thrust chamber was developed for the Apollo Lunar Module decent stage and made 10 flights during the Apollo program. The engine type became famous again in the 1995 with the release of the movie "Apollo 13" as the engine that powered the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft from the moon back to earth because the Service Propulsion System was never used subsequent to the cryotank stir/explosion. Because the extent of damage to the SPS was unknown, there was great concern at the time that collateral damage could have caused a catastrophic malfunction (if the engine was fired). Instead the LMDE was used for the return burn and subsequent course correction. Quite a famous engine.

Of course, this is not that exact engine as it burned up in the earth's atmosphere after being jettisoned when the Apollo 13 crew returned to earth in the Command Module.

Flown engines, of course, are either left on the surface of the moon (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17), crashed into the moon (Apollo 10), or burned up in earth’s atmosphere (Apollo 5, 9, 13).

Apollo as a branded corporate gift

 A Decade In A Day - Compliments of The Washington Senators

On the eve of July 20, 1969, not everyone was focused on the Apollo 11 moon landing all the time. Many baseball fans were tuned in to radio broadcasts from Yankee stadium that night as the Yankees played the Washington Senators. At the moment of landing, broadcasters interrupted the game and switched over to the live feeds – unscripted and unedited – that they were receiving from NASA. When Eagle landed, and the stations switched back over to the game, it was announced in the stadium that Apollo 11 had landed on the moon. The roar of the crowd, which then later breaks out into song in celebration, perfectly captures the mood of a nation, filled with pride in the accomplishment. In a stroke of marketing genius, WWDC Radio, and the Washington Senators, produced a commemorative 45” record album that they gave away as a marketing gift that would forever associate their team and brand with the moment.  

Apollo Astronaut Statements to the Media: A Spin Free Zone

 Apollo 11 press conference

Several critics of NASA’s image making and PR efforts seek to portray NASA as an active, Svengali-like molder of the astronauts’ image in the press. And while it is true NASA sought out a specific personality “type” during their selection process, and provided the astronauts with public affairs support, much of the image making content was outside of NASA’s control – especially during the Apollo program. While the public affairs team would provide guidance and suggestions to the Apollo astronauts when asked, they never scripted them, never provided media training, or forced them to have a given position on any topic.

“They might tell you who’s important, who’s there,” explains Gene Cernan, Commander of the Apollo 17 mission, and the last man to walk on the Moon. “It’s always important to know who’s there, and who are the movers and shakers, so you are a little aware. They do some of the ground work for you.”  But they never told him what to say, or how to say it – even when it involved his final words upon leaving the lunar surface. “Public Affairs never pushed me, never asked me, never told me.”

Even for Neil Armstrong, the first man to step onto the surface of the moon, NASA did not script his famous words, or give him any direction on what to say – during arguably one of the most watched global television events in history. He had the personal freedom, as did all the other astronauts, to make his own statements, and speak his own mind.

“Julian Scheer, who really led the NASA relations with the outside world in many ways, was absolutely adamant that Headquarters never put words in the mouths of their people, not just astronauts, but anybody, that they let people speak for themselves,” said Armstrong in an oral history interview.  “They never, to my knowledge, controlled the … public statements of others. Certainly they insisted, in the case of the flight crews, that they not be told what to say, that their statements be their own elocution of what they saw and what they wanted to say. As far as I know, that prohibition was never violated.”

Newsjacking The Moon Landing

 Duke Ellington practices before the taping of his broadcast.

In third place in the ratings, and lagging well behind the other two major networks in their coverage of the Apollo program, ABC-TV News decided to spice up its coverage a bit of the Apollo 11 Moon landing and commissioned Duke Ellington to compose and perform an original song. Moon Maiden, written for piano, base and drums, would also be Ellington’s public debut as a vocalist. “At my age, I don’t really need an excuse to do anything,” said Ellington to reporters at a press conference, discussing his first and only performance as a vocalist after taping the song at ABC Studios in New York for broadcast at 10:00 pm on July 20, 1969. “I just felt I could do it. But it’s a one shot thing.”  

Ellington, who said he had written or composed more than 5,000 songs, admitted it was difficult creating a romantic mood about a space ship. “The train was the most romantic vehicle we ever had,” he said, explaining the title of his song. “If you ever heard the C&O whistle blowing blues – that whistle was something. There’s got to be a girl out there for a man to be singing about.”    

ABC also commissioned poet James Dickey to write and read an original poem; however, it was Ellington’s lyrics and his first vocal performance that were often written about and reprinted in newspapers across the country on the morning before Neil Armstrong’s famous first steps. In what would have made for a perfect YouTube viral video of today, Ellington performed and taped the song against a studio set that simulated the Apollo 11 lunar landing, complete with a mock-up of the Apollo 11 LEM.

Click on the link to watch Duke Ellington sing Moon Maiden on the eve of the Apollo 11 landing.

My TEDx talk The Need to Explore

 This is a completely new speech for me with no reliance on the material I use in my keynotes.

Direct link to The Need to Explore on YouTube.

This talk was crafted as Rich and I were in the thick of researching and writing Marketing the Moon. Some of the ideas that are in the book are also within the talk but there are a number of differences, especially around the idea of linking exploration and communications. 

It was fun (but hard work) to create a brand new talk combining several subjects I am passionate about: space exploration and our ongoing communications revolution. 

Note: Rich and I are both available for presentations at conferences and events. Let us know if you want booking information. 

My selfie with Neil Armstrong

David Meerman Scott and Neil Armstrong

At the Apollo 13 40th anniversary celebration at The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, I had an opportunity to meet and share a few words with “first man” Neil Armstrong.

I wanted to memorialize my meeting with a photo, but there was nobody near us to snap it. So like a teenager, I shot a “selfie”.

As his expression indicates, Neil thought the selfie approach was sort of funny. Despite being a bit out of focus and not particularly flattering, I treasure this image.